So the coolest working shift is finally over for Ms. Romela de Leon.

FYI

She's now working under her most dreaded time slot - the 6am to 4pm period a.k.a. "The Morning Shift".

Practise makes perfect (except when getting up in the morning!)

So I figured, the only way to keep me awake the entire SEO day is to be fully jumpy in the morning. Usually, my morning sets my mood for the day. See how crucial it is to have a complete 8-hour sleep? (winks)

I made 5 simple suggestions to keep my eyes open and my mind thinking for the nest couple of days, and hopefully forever until I'm done with this morning thing. Here it goes...

1. Less Carbo

Aside from the breakfast rice intake i get every morning, I think I'll slow down on carbo until lunch time. Excessive amount of it can really cause you to feel like wanting to sleep.

2. Jog my way to the office

I know this sounds stupid hehehe! And I don't think I'll actually do this, but you know seeing a lot of people jogging along Megamall makes me want to run along with them (especially, if there's a cute guy). Advantage: I'm fully perked up. Downside: I'm all sweaty by the time I get to the office.

3. Read the Word for the day

We all neglect this habit. I know I do. Maybe the problem is, we see this as a habitual obligation. But believe me, His Word can get you going even the roughest of the days.

4. Try blogging

Orayt! Now, I get to write something sane here. Writing a blog article awakens your brain functions. It'll get me into action in preparation for my web copywriting tasks. Foreplay muna... oops! wrong choice of words, rom.

5. Water vs Coffee

Cold water gives you your much needed oxygen boost. Coffee's good if you're under some caffeine spell you can't escape from but it's not as healthy for the skin and body processes as water.

Aside from the 5 mentioned, I think I'll also try greeting more people in the office, and making a few chika with my SEO team mates. And of course, I can always do my usual email checks ( as if I'm not doin' that everyday)... uhm... what else to say?

Now, if you have other suggetsions for a struggling sleep addict like me, kindly post the comment. I'll gladly appreciate it.

Hay, I better get going... my eyes are slowly attempting to close again.

I hate waiting, who doesn't anyway?

For most people, impatience is a number one weakness. I for instance, grumbles over long MRT lines, slow PC downloading, irritating fastfood lines when I'm dead hungry, etc... etc...

To top these little patience-requiring situations, we all experience a time in our lives when we feel that we're waiting in vain for the right opportunity, right career, right person, and all that "right things" to happen to us. Why do we have to wait patiently for our turn to shine, for us to finally get what we think we deserve? Haven't we waited long enough?

The answer my friend is that there is a right time for everything (yeah right rom, you should know that!) We are all anxiously after the "right (or so we think) things" to happen except the "right time" for these.

I am guilty of this attitude, I admit. Sometimes waiting just gets into my nerves without realizing that there's SOMEONE up there who's having more trouble waiting for me to be prepared and matured enough to handle the upcoming events in my life. Patience, as they say builds endurance.

I guess, I'm just sick of waiting.

Hmmm.... but there's another way of looking at it. Waiting shouldn't be seen as a passive activity, but rather an opportunity for us to focus more on the present. That way, we get better results for the affairs of today, and ultimately we'll have a better tomorrow awaiting for us. And hopefully, waiting should be less stressful when we get some assurance that we did everything for tomorrow to be, more or less - okay.

That's the art of waiting.

So the next time I begin to lose my temper on that slow "fast submission" task, I'll take hold of this - Patience is a virtue. And everything's gonna be alright in the end.

Love is like water.

It seeps out of you even with

the tightest security...

Grabe tawa ko ng tawa dito! wahahahhaa!

(courtesy of Stacy Ann Gabriel, a dear friend...)

Ilang ulit na bang nangyari sa iyo ito? Ngayon ang kasal ng pinsan mo.Heto ka ang ganda ganda mo. Naghanda ka talaga dahil minsan-minsan lang ang okasyon sa pamilya nyo. Kadalasan sa mga lamay na lang kayo nagkikita-kita so ngayong kasal ng pinsan mo, gusto mo namang maging maganda at mapansin nila. Aba, napansin ka nga. Ganito ang tanong ng lahat ng kaanak mo sa iyo..."O ikaw kelan ka ikakasal?" "Uy, ikaw na ang susunod ano?" Parang gusto mo na sa susunod na lamay sila naman ang sabihan mo ng "Ikaw, kelan ka susunod?"


Huwag kang malungkot. Ito gusto nga kitang sumaya kaya sinulat ko ito.Hindi ka dapat malungkot dahil maraming posibleng dahilan bakit hindi ka pa kinakasal hanggang ngayon. Hayaan mo silang mainip sa paghihintay.Basta kung okay ka, okay ka. Hayaan mo tulungan kita mag-isip kung bakit wala ka pa ring asawa hanggang ngayon. Naisip ko na 'yan eh.

Ito ang sampung dahilan bakit wala pa.

4:00am

Exactly. My aunt woke me up. Slept around 10:30 last night. Couldn't bear the 100 second-face-to-face-surprise for Franzen by his wife. Naiyak lng ako sa kanila. Then I decided to sleep.

4:20am

Got myself in the shower. Finished by 4:35. Wisik-wisik lang (hehe!)

4:40am

Breakfast. Hotdogs and Gardenia.

5:00am

Went out. Got a trike. Then off to work

5:39am

Nasa ortigas nko. I logged-in at exactly 5:39 outside the ePac Antel office.

5:45am

Doin' my blog. Dunno kung cno mkkabasa. As you can see, I arrived quite early for my shift. Ewan ko. Parang naghahabol ako ng oras... o may tinatakasan ako. I usually run away and write if something's troubling me. Heto na nman ako, nde ko na namn alam ang gagawin ko... iisipin ko.

It's just that time is such a big thing for me. I wanna make the most of it and so I'm tryin' to get loads of it. Hopeless naman. I don't wanna get myself in a predicament when I'd just realize, nawalan nko ng oras... that I'd let it pass just like that... that I lost the right opportunity... that I didn't say the words that I've long wanted to say. I'm not sure if this is supposed to end up to some good, or if it is just gonna be in vain lng tlga in the end. I dunno. Ayoko nang mgicip.

I need time.

time finished: 6:30am

12:30 am... konti na lng at malapit na 1:00am...

But before that happenned, I found myself into that "panakaw na tulog" (ne mejo napahaba, 30 mins!)

I can't take the graveyard shift. It's the worst! I thought the morning sched's gonna eat me up, mas malupet pa pla eto... well for a sleep lover like me, what do yah expect, rom!

This reminds me of my college days. Though others may argue, I've had my share of cramming sessions for an exam. During hellweek, I'd set myself to sleep like 7pm so that I'd be fully awake by 3 or 5pm to review for my test. I was often successful at waking up at those ungodly hours, until the next 30 minutes.

Oh yes, give me 30 minutes and I doze off again on top of my sweet-soft bed sa dorm!

Grabe, I can't be good at staying awake talaga. This is more than a sacrifice. The only good thing about it is that it had me reminded of college, devcom, dormitory, UPLB (i love!).

Don't we all sometimes wish to be in school again? You know what, even if I couldn't put up with my sleepy eyes during exam reviews, I feel proud that I was still able to go through it and succeed. That was worth all the sacrifice. At shempre, pagkatapos nang exam, gimmick na!!!

But with work, it's a lot different. Sure, I can still go out and unwind but I've got different priorities now. It's more like, "spend the money now, or starve for the next 15 days?"

Iba talaga nung college. Cguro kahit forever may graveyard shift ako, ok lng. Basta kinabukasan, nasa coffeeshop ako with my barkada... o kaya mas simple... nag pepe-people watch sa Carabao park.

haaay... pang-alis ng antok.

Stuck on you.

Got this feeling down deep in my soul that i just cn't lose,

Guess I'm on my way...

Whew! Congratulate me, my GY (Grave yard) Shift is over and done with! hahahaha! Sa wakas, my goodnessesssss....

Aside from the inherent fact that I am not (and will never be) a night person, I've learned a couple of few other things while I was stuck in that nightmare sort of shift on earth (hehe!).

Here's the list:

1. That chocolate can only do you good for only a certain number of hours. Or talagang antukin lng ako? This stimulant is still no match for my sleepy head.

2. That Markie and Reggie are really cool dudes. Dalawang barako ang kasama ko during my shift. Can you imagine?  Reggie is so funny. He resembles Garfield (tulog man o gising).

3. You can't store sleep. Republic Act na ata 'to. For one to be able to survive the deadly shift, one has to make sure s/he gets that uninterrupted 8-hour sleep even if the sun is all shining in the morning.

4. That you can be numb to hunger pains when you're sleepy. GY can actually be a diet therapy. Well for me, I think it'll work coz I couldn't get myself to eat much. Sleepiness took over my hunger.

5. I think I can be more productive during night shift. I was forced to, actually or else I'll be sleeping on my desk if I wouldn't do my keyword research tasks.

6. That I can live without YM (well given that everybody's offline)

7. That it's cool to do gimmick before work. haha! ang saya lang nito. I think I had it doin' the entire GY week. COOL!

8. May dahilan ka para hindi tumulong sa bahay. Shempre you need to sleep and most of the time, people sympathize to those working under the graveyard shift. kaya tulog galore lang ako.

9. Hot Chocolate and Doughnuts are undeniably excellent morning soothers...

10. That GY shouldn't last for more than a week for a 21 year-old girl like me... or else you'll die haha!

This entry sucks.. can't think of things to say more.. really sleepy...

Signing off.....zzzzzzzzz........

My holiday on the 30th was moved to the 28th...

Rom's sked for the week: 7am-5pm... no Saturdays!

That gives me a long weekend to spend with my loved ones... yehey!

Anybody up for gimmick?

Last night was terrific!

I had dinner with one of my most favorite people on earth - Karen.

It was a great after-office time to spend with her. We talked about how crazy we are, talked about God, singlehood, issues of our lives, etc. It feels so comforting to have someone listen to you and say the right things you should be putting in your head. It was a grand heart-to-heart talk between two friends who was apart for almost a semester yet distance and time didn't succeed to keep them estranged. It seemed like we were just together in the dormitory yesterday.

The thing is with us, we've been officemates for about 3 months already but last night was the only chance we had to finally bond. I must say that true friends listen to your stories differently. They hear straight from your heart. Even if I try to hide my real feelings, Karen knows how I am truly affected by the cruelties of this earth.

She gives me the reassuring words. Reminding me that God's wisdom is really, most of the time, inexplicable and difficult to fathom sent away my distress of assuming that I'm the only one going through this stage. Maybe the problem isn't with God, but with me. I've heard people say that they can no longer see or feel the hand of God moving in their lives. I also encounter the same dilemma every now and then, more than people can imagine. But after a couple of thoughts and prayers, I resign to the fact that it's not God, rather it's my narrow view of His amazing plan for my life.

Many times i feel so really down in the dumps, asking Him what's wrong with me? What is the matter with me? Why can't I seem to get what I've been asking from Him for a long long time now? But as Karen puts it, "Rom, God doesn't exist for us. We exist for Him."

Often we insist on our own will, like I usually do, without realizing that He's got some better (and magnificent) plan for us. I always tell these things to myself, but just like any ordinary human being, I falter in my faith. Believers can also weaken and fall...

Good thing God doesn't and He tells us that "My grace is sufficient for you. For in weakness, you are made strong..."

And boy, oh, boy, does He send us His little angels here on earth to remind ud of His love and care. For some, it can be a teacher, a parent, a child who touched their life.

For me, it's my favorite friend. And she's Karen.

PS: Ok. Libre mo na 'ko ng lunch, sis.

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up... To more than I can be.

-You Raise Me Up-

Two things made my today a bit different:

1. Rhiza's ain't at my side

2. Wrote for an adult (and I mean, ADULT) website

Shucks tlaga! ayoko na magsulat ng content for adult sites. Gosh! Sex doll makers are as sick as their patrons! My goodness! Offensive talaga for girls. I can't believe it: there are guys who want to do 'it' with a life-size Barbie???

Why not, at least, go for the real thing if you can't afford love? Marami pa nman jan...

Ewan ko basta creepy, yucky, magsulat ng mga ganito!

Kadiri!

I have this urging desire to write about this - the love story of my mom and dad. This goes to all who have given up on the fact that there is really a 'someone' for everybody. My writing is ignited by the recent alumni silver jubilee homecoming of my mom's high school batch at St. Mary's Pasay. My dad studied at Sta. Clara (parochial school?), which is just in front of St. Mary's. And so that was just the start of an enticing love affair. The two, being 1980 batchmates during the reunion, made them the Bea-John Lloyd Love team hahaha!

This is how the story goes...

CAT thing for an all-girls' school. Since they've only got nuns in their academy, the administrator/director of St. Mary's decided to seek the help of the all-male cadets of Sta. Clara Parish School. This was kinda nuts, I think... I mean that's quite defeating the purpose of an exclusive girl community if they'd be allowing boys to handle the ladies in the training. But anyway, everything settled in the right places for that kind of agreement.

My dad was a company commander. Believe it or not, he was the campus hearthrob (both St. Mary's and Sta. Clara???). So imagine the scenario, here's the pack of young ladies who hasn't got into close interaction with a group of young adult men-wanna-be's. The result? An endless research of the boys' home numbers (wala pang celfone nun eh) by the girls crushing on them. I bet, the guys did just the same.

At that time, my mom had a boyfriend. It was my dad's best friend. Unknown to her was the fact that this best friend is the same guy he always sees inside the church during the Sunday mass. She said that her missalette would constantly fall off the floor. I just don't know if she deliberately did this to catch my dad's attention. But she noted that my dad was too suplado to pick it up for her. As in dedma to death daw talaga! She gave quite an impeccable deatail of how dad would constantly ignore her during the mass, her piece of paper falling off while he makes total indifference towards her! Grabe, that has been 20 plus years but still she recalls it exactly how it happened. I think I got that trait from her - having an ever vivid memory of encounters with guys we like! hehe..

So now, she tells me that actually, the guy you meet in the church will be the one you're gonna marry... geez mom.

Time flew and my mom broke off with my dad's best friend. They were never meant to be, she told me. My mom got to UST for her college education. She usually took the espana route going home. But one day, she decided to take the ride along Dapitan St. That's the time she and dad laid eyes on each other again. She recalled him as her ex's best friend. My dad on the other hand, was so thankful he paid his fare already before she got in kse kulang na daw pamasahe nya pag nagpalibre pa si mommy haha!

Mom and dad admitted that it was really fate that got them together. And now, being married for 21 years, are still laughing at each other's jokes. I believe that even though my parents have a lot of arguments until now, they are really the one for each other. I think no other man can have the same amount of patience my dad has when dealing with my mom. At the same time, no other woman can have the same faithful service that mommy has for her husband.

So that's how their love story went. Today, I often tell my mom about my seemingly pointless dating experiences. That's the time she advises me that : You should not look for love. Let it come and let it find you instead.

And she says this with great conviction...