The Journey Continues...

A few days ago, the results of the nursing licensure exam was released in the newspaper.  Some of my friends knew some of the passers and were really happy for them.  I'm sure as early as now, these board passers are looking for health care job sites while waiting for their oath taking.  I hope they will consider working here in our country instead of working abroad for we need to have good health providers.  I also hope that private hospitals and the government will provide them with competitive compensation so that they will decide to stay and work here.

In these days of poverty and hardship, most people tend to steal things just to make money out of it. It happens wherever we are and we just have to be extra careful in making sure that our things and our valuables are secured. In common areas like gyms, some are asked to provide their own padlocks for their lockers while some are given keys by the administration which must be returned when you’re done with your workout. I remember when I used to go to the gym, I choose a specific gym locker for I like its location and I feel that my things are secured in there. There was news before that there’s a thief inside the gym so all of the members are really careful not to lose their things. The administration before was even considering of changing the lockers and were looking for lockers for sale. I haven’t gone to the gym for a few months and I don’t know how their system works now, but I do hope that they don’t have problems anymore in security.

Today is Holiday here in my part of the world. We are celebrating the National Heroes Day and so it was declared as non-working day. I wasn’t able to make special plans for this long weekend for I just want to spend time with my kids because I will be gone for four days next week.

Last Saturday, we visited my uncle and his family in Paranaque and spent the afternoon there. We also gave my aunt her ticket to the US because she’s leaving this Thursday. The kids were so behaved and were just eating and sitting down while we talked with my uncle. Yesterday Sunday, we went to mass at 7:30am then went to the grocery as soon as in opened. We need to refill our stack of food and also I need to buy food for Lance as his baon for school. Today, we were invited by my cousin to go to Tagaytay but we decided not to go with them. I don’t want the kids to get tired already especially Lance who just recovered from cough and colds. He has been absent for two consecutive Mondays already and I don’t want it to be a habit. So today, we just stayed home, watched tv and played. Tomorrow it’s back to work again. Hayz… I hope there will be more long weekends to come.

If I am asked when is the right time to buy gold coins as a form of investment, I’d tell them now is the time. Especially if I plan to have the investment for my kids’ future, now is definitely the right time, because I’m sure, by the time my kids will need it, the value of these gold coins had more than doubled. Too bad, I don’t have enough money to invest on these but if only I have more than what I need, I will definitely invest on these because I’m sure, I’ll never go wrong. The value of gold always increases over time and the earlier to invest would mean the lower the cost of investment. Now, if only I have the extra money…

I enjoyed watching the movie for it is funny and light. It’s a romantic comedy and I love how both Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin portrayed their roles. I won’t be telling you what the story is all about, but if you’re looking for a feel-good movie, this one is a must-see. :)

I recently talked to one of my high school friends who said she’s having problems with her husband. She said that her husband lost his job a few months ago and he has been looking for a job but to no avail. He said her husband lost hope and got lured into alcoholism. Now, she said most of the time her husband either stays home because he is sleeping all day due to hang over or goes out at night to have a drink. She said she needs to find an alcohol treatment so that her husband will go back to his normal state of mind. He said the husband doesn’t hurt her or their children but they don’t get to talk to him that much anymore.

I really am sad for her because I know both of them very well and I know they are good people. I told my friend that there is an alcohol treatment center where he can bring her husband. I do hope though that the husband is willing to undergo alcohol rehab so they can go on with their lives. It’s really sad when things like this happen to people, especially to those who have children to take care of. I pray for my friend and her family that they can surpass this problem and continue to live their lives again.

A couple of days ago, I received call from a friend asking me if I have insurance already for my kids. I told her I don’t have anything yet for them and she offered me her insurance. She said I could log on to the site so I can get online insurance quotes and compare it with other insurance providers. I know getting insurance is important and hopefully I can get one for the kids soon.

When I was in college, I remember some of the students in my school including my classmates are searching for free homework help especially on some of the math subjects that we study. Some homework is really hard that it will take so much of your time in solving a particular problem. There was even a time when one of my classmates posted an announcement at the bulletin board that says Math homework help, put down the particular subject that he’s having difficulty in answering and also posted his contact number. Surprisingly, someone called him and believe it or not, helped him in answering those problems.

I’m really glad that during those times, help comes when you need it. And now it has even become better because there’s online tutoring available. You can get free math help services if you’re a first timer so you can decide if you want to get or not. I’m sure during my college days, some of the students in my school will avail this kind of service.

That’s how I am now here in the office. I am taking over a business development unit in the office and I’m studying all the details as to how the product works. It has been started by an engineer here at work already so there are some articles that I can read so as to familiarize myself. I’m still trying to learn more the technical aspect of the product and at the same time learning on how to deal with clients especially those on the government for I was not handling sales in my previous task. I do hope I will be able to learn all of it the soonest possible time and also will be able to generate sales this quarter. Wish me luck!

Last Sunday, we attended Jacob’s 4^th birthday party at Mcdonalds Forbes Town. Jacob is the son of online friend Apols. I told my kids that we will be attending a party at Mcdonalds when I got the invitation from Apols and they were really looking forward to it. They had a great time at the party, dancing on the side with Justin Bieber’s “Baby” together with Joaqui and Manu. Lance even tried to join one of the games but doesn’t know what to do hehe! It was also good to see other online friends, Kaje, Peachy, Kelly, and Jacqui. We also saw Mich when we’re about to go home. Again, thank you Apols for inviting us and we hope to see you again when you come back to the Philippines.:)

And very irritating! Our house is right across the covered court in the village. I often find it a disadvantage for most nights, the covered court is used by anybody who made a reservation. I really won’t mind them using the court but I do hope they consider the noise they make. Like now, my kids are asleep already but since there’s a group practicing a dance, they can’t sleep well for the music at the court can be heard here in our room. Now, I have to put them back to sleep and I am trying to finish some tasks that are due in an hour! There are times that there’s a basketball game in the court that lasts until 12 midnight! Imagine that! I don’t know if there’s a policy on using the covered court but I do hope that our barangay chairman will take into consideration the houses beside the court because the noise is really unbearable! I plan to ask about it as soon as I have the time, but for now we have no choice but to suffer from their noise. Hmp!

Paul and I were talking the other day on what school we hope to send the kids when they are ready to enter the big school. Paul wants to enroll Lance in an exclusive school where he also went during his grade school days. I told him that to be fair with Hannah, we should also send her to an exclusive school when it’s her time to enter the big school. Our only problem is the tuition fee. These days, tuition fee of good schools are seriously high and parents should really work hard if they plan to enroll their kids to these kinds of schools. I told Paul we should buy gold coins as early as now to serve as an investment. These coins will be of higher value if we won’t use them right away. I’m sure that just in case we won’t have enough cash when we enroll the kids, these coins will be of great use to us.

These past few days and including last week, I’ve been pretty busy at work. I was transferred to a different department and was tasked to handle a business development for one of our products. Because of the transfer I also need to move to a new cubicle since I am now part of a different division. I’ve been reading like crazy studying the facts, features and technical details of our product. I’ve been doing some research and see if we have competitors here in the country and I’ve been doing some costing which I have no idea how to do! Hehe! Despite all of that, I am enjoying my new work. I learn a lot from all the reading materials I have and I also find it challenging that I need to make this business running and contributing to the financials of our company. I hope and pray that we will make our big transaction in the near future. :)

I had my first meeting and first presentation this afternoon with a prospective client in the new department where I belong. I am nervous as to how the meeting will go because it will be or first sales if ever everything goes out fine. I am a little pressured with my new position because of office politics so I really work hard and study all the details of the products.

Anyhow, our meeting turned out fine. They are interested in our product since they plan to buy it. Our business model is on build-operate-maintain scheme and selling the system is the last option. But since we’re working with a foundation, they’d rather that they’ll buy the system and let the beneficiaries earn from it. They said that the foundation has to partner with companies who has corporate social responsibility plans or maybe to foreign entities like the United States Gold Bureau to fund their projects. We will present to the management committee our plans for the project and we do hope that they’ll allow us to sell it. :)

Last July 24, I took a leave from work for our passport renewal. Paul and I are scheduled for renewal while Hannah is for new application. Lance was not with us because I already applied a passport for him a few years ago when we were supposed to visit Paul in Taiwan. Anyhow, we waited for one month for this schedule because it was the latest I can get when I logged on to their online scheduling system. I just prepared the requirements as what’s listed in the site.

On the day of our schedule, we left early for we were scheduled at 8:30am. We got there by 8:00am and fall in line to have our application form checked. When they saw our names on the schedule, we were asked to go inside the building. There are separate lanes for new application and for renewal so we asked one of their ushers if it’s possible that Hannah will stay with us even if she’s a new applicant. They said it’s ok but they also have a courtesy lane for mothers and children so we won’t have to fall in line anymore. He also mentioned that we will pay Php 1200.00 if we’re at the courtesy lane compared to Php 950.00 for the regular lane. Paul and I decided that we will just wait on the regular lane for we are not in a hurry, besides we are wondering, how can it be a courtesy lane if you have to pay higher than their normal rate? :)

Surprisingly, the line was fast even if it’s long. People are also relaxed while in the line because we are seated, there’s air condition and a tv where we watched previous fights of Manny Pacquiao. Hannah behaved well while we’re in the line and was smiling at the people. When it was our turn, we presented our documents and I was asked to photocopy my application form as attachment to Hannah’s form and birth certificate. After that, we were instructed to go up for payment and picture taking. Upon reaching the second floor, we were asked to pay for our passports and then got our number to wait for our turn for picture taking. Our number was 1501 and 1502 and at that time the number being called is 1430. We only waited for I think 10 minutes before our numbers flashed on the screen. Hannah was with me while Paul was on his own. I’m glad Hannah was in the mood during that time. Although it took us longer during picture taking because Hannah keeps on smiling and according to the lady, the picture must show that you’re not smiling and that your lips are closed. After many takes, we were able to get a picture of Hannah that passes the requirement. Then it was my turn. After another 10 minutes or so, we were done. We fell in line again to pay for the courier which costs P120 per person and then we’re done. It took us only 1hr and 30 minutes from the time we arrived at DFA. I believe it’s a short time compared to the previous process and kudos to DFA for improving their system. We are just waiting for our passport which will be delivered after one month from the date we applied.

I was checking my files on my laptop the other day and saw in one of my folders my files on the different tv series that I watch. Since I’m not sleepy yet, I decided to watch some of them. One of the episodes I watched was when Glee featured Lady Gaga on their show. It was one of the episodes that I like especially when they perform Bad Romance.

Lady Gaga is really famous now, her songs are always in the charts, people know her songs and you can see her music videos all the time in mtv! And when she has a show lady gaga concert tickets are selling like hot cakes! Too bad we were not able to watch when she had her concert here. Anyhow, back to glee. I can’t wait for season 2! I’m sure fans like me are so excited to see them again on September.

Last July 24, we attended Anevay’s Birthday at Jollibee Meralco in Marikina. Anevay is the pretty daughter of fellow mommy blogger Milette. At first we were not sure if we can come to the party because I’m not familiar with the place and we don’t have a car because my sister is going to use it. But Paul said he knows the venue and we can take the cab going there. I’m glad we did because the party was great and my kids had fun!

We were there early so the kids were able to play first before the party started. And when it did, Lance had so much fun and I was surprised that he joined the games. It was so funny when he joined “the boat is sinking” game because he really doesn’t know how to play it but he was among the last kids who were eliminated. During the rest of the games when Lance doesn’t want to join anymore, they kept themselves busy with the crayons, and even when it was time to blow the candle.

Thanks again mommy millette for inviting us to the party. It was great to see you again. :)