These Days

Quiet days on the blog.  I had a few posts planned but I've been busy at work the last few weeks of december.  Moreover, more important/urgent things have happened to my family. Typhoon Sendong hit Mindanao on December 17, hardest on Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City, my hometown.  My brother who was in Cebu informed me that the house was flooded.  This has NEVER happened in all of our years living in that house.  I was alarmed but also at a loss on how to comprehend the situation.  I cannot imagine how bad it could be and fervently prayed to God to keep my family safe.  It was a very long night. Early morning, I was woken up by Manong's call saying my family is safe.  Thank you, God.  The house was flooded up to the roof and they were able to survive the flood by staying on the roof (Em and Ate Girlie) or clinging to a balingbing tree (Papang and Mommy).  Then updates and pictures started pouring in on Facebook.  That's when I realized how devastating the typhoon was.  

Ela is my officemate's daughter and she celebrated her first birthday on December 18 at Max's. I typically shun party games but this was fun.  Moms won.=) Fun time with daddy. Happy birthday, Ela!

Neil's first performance on the big stage was on December 13 for their school's Christmas program.  During the show, I totally understood why some people can become stage parents.=) I was at the rehearsal the prior day so I knew what will be shown.  But Neil surprised us in a big way.  He didn't do the actions for the first song during rehearsal but he did it on show day!  I was a proud mommy. The theme for the program was 'Christmas Around the World' and his class went Korean. He was clapping when the curtains were opened. Opening number, He is Lord. Pambansang Awit Class presentation. And here are the videos. After the program: Whole household in attendance. Fun day! This is one of the reasons why I like that he is in school.  I truly appreciate the effort the teachers put in to teach the kids the songs and keeping things under control on and off the stage.

This week's notable links are related to world population.  I tend to be interested in a subject, read about it and discover these links. 7 Billion on National Geographic .  Special series on the world's 7B population, with stories and discussions.  They have a counter of world population as well. 7 Billion Actions .  A site where anyone can upload a story, highlighting positive action.  I was checking through the site and was encouraged by all the good work that people do.  Really, we can be hopeful.  It's just a pity that only the sensational negative stories get highlighted in the media.  Positive stories are found right here.  And thanks to the internet for making this possible. What's Your Number?   7 billion is an overwhelming number.  This site let's you enter your birthday and plots you on the population chart and identifies your specific number (datapoint).  Of course this is not perfect and employs some algorithm to estimate where you are on the cha

The last installment of the series Abraham's School of Finance was on Generosity.  To review, the topics in this series are:   Week 1: Covenant Week 2: Stewardship Week 3: Tithing Week 4: Generosity Generosity begins with God.  Surely, we have experienced God's generosity in our lives.  We can be generous because God has been generous to us.  There is no need to  fear running out of supply because God does not run out of supply. Generosity is a test of faith.  Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac and he obeyed.  We know what happened, God knew that Abraham had faith and was given his son back.  Generosity is intentional.   Generosity is a response.  We respond to God's calling to be generous. Generosity is the opposite of greed.  Anyone can be generous, no matter the personal circumstances. More importantly, generosity does not consist only in money.  They also include time, words, etc. And my addition: generosity is a muscle.  We may have

First time to see the lights at Ayala Triangle Gardens this year.  We love it! It was a Saturday and as expected, there were a LOT of people there but everyone was in good spirits.  Christmas, music and blinking lights can do that.=) Then we all had dinner at Amici.

Two weeks ago, we attended the birthday party of Richard's officemate's daughter.  It was special and fun for us because it was the FIRST time for Neil to participate in party games.=) For the first game, the kids were asked to sit down and remove their shoes.  Then they closed their eyes while the shoes were scattered all over the place.  The object of the game was for them to find the shoes and put them on.  I helped him with the last part. The second game was blowing away the cotton buds that were stuck to their nose with petroleum jelly. Neil wasn't able to get it done and I think he did not get the goal entirely, but the fact that he joined the games with the other kids was already awesome for me.=) The party theme was Angry Birds and here's the cute cake. Tired little boy.

Our company Christmas party was held on December 6, 2011 at the InterContinental Hotel in Makati.  The theme is Broadway, which makes pretty much everything fair game with respect to outfit.  The organizations at work were grouped for presentations and even non-performers were asked to dress according to the musical they chose to do.  Our group (and I mean they) chose Grease.  My not so Grease-y attire.  Dress is vintage Chloe bought from eBay. I really enjoyed the presentations in this party.  All of the groups really stepped up and gave impressive shows.  Bragging rights at stake. Grease  Annie La Cage Et Folles Lion King Photo break after the presentations. Alin ang naiba? My team. Merry Christmas!

Came in at 9AM for a meeting, team lunch at BGC, two more meetings in the afternoon, work, a phone meeting with the boss in the evening, and more work.  I went home at 12MN and barely made a dent on my to-do list.  Still up at 1AM but signing off soon. Just a quick post to say that even if the job is tough sometimes, I am still thankful for it. =) Good night, internet!

Part 3 of church preaching series at VCF entitled Abraham's School of Finance.  I wasn't able to post this sooner because I misplaced my notebook.  Needless to say, I found it yesterday!  The complete series list is: Week 1: Covenant Week 2: Stewardship Week 3: Tithing Week 4: Generosity The verse for this lesson is Genesis 14 . Abram heard that his nephew Lot and has been taken captive by invading kings.  He pursued the captors, routed them and recovered all the people and goods.  He was met by the king of Sodom who offered him all the goods (but wanted all the people back).  Abram declined to take anything from the king of Sodom.  Melchizedek king of Salem also met him, with bread and wine.  Melchizedek blessed Abram and God for the victory.  Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything...  This was the first mention of tithing in the Bible. Spirit The spirit of the tithe is: I am blessed by God.  I will bless God.  I will be a blessing to others. The reason

Distrito Makati is the newest market from the same team that put up Mercato Centrale in Bonifacio Global City.  It opened on November 25, 2011 at the parking lot of the Makati Medical Center.  It's near the office so I was really looking forward to checking it out.  I am a fan of community markets and there was a time when you can find me at the Salcedo market every Saturday! A lot of the items at these markets are a bit pricey but I still like to go just to see what unique items are purveyed, and maybe try a thing or two.  Unfortunately, Distrito has ended in December and will not be coming back.   Here are a few photos from our only visit on November 30.

11.29.2011 Update The championship game was on November 13 at 10AM.  We rushed to the court right after church and got there just in time.  I won the game. =) What was I doing here? =) 11.06.2011 We're having inter-department games at work these days and I signed up for badminton.  The last time I played/practiced was over 3 months ago so I'm hardly in good game shape.  Also, I used to just play doubles but was assigned to play singles this time.  No conditioning for an event that's not really my forte.  Ok lang! I wanted to win, of course, but given the conditions, I decided that representing the team and doing my best should be enough.  Still, I was anxious on game day (slept less than 4 hours :S).  Richard and I were at the venue earlier than my scheduled game so I was able to warm up a bit.  We volleyed for a few minutes but I didn't push too hard so I don't run out of steam for the real game. I had one game each on November 5 (10AM) and November 6

11.11.11. I attended the 5th National Conference of the Operations Research Society of the Philippines on November 11 at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel.   In case you didn't know, OR is one of the loves of my life and I just appreciate being in this field.  This is one day in the year that I get to immerse myself in all things OR and reconnect with colleagues as well. This year's theme was OR: Towards a More Competitive Philippines .  For the morning plenary sessions, we had speakers from the AIM Policy Center and the National Competitiveness Council. Dr. Ronald U. Mendoza of the AIM Policy Center Representative of Guillermo Luz from the DTI We were shown statistics and reports from the World Economic Forum and the International Finance Corporation about the state of Philippine competitiveness and economic progress relative to the rest of the world. My key takeaways from the plenary session: Progress has to be inclusive.  As much as possible, all members of

This was a medically memorable week for me.  I saw 5 different doctors, several lab tests done and a major procedure ( relative because I am not sick often, thank God ). The story.  I had on-and-off bladder related difficulties for a week so I decided to finally consult the doctor last Monday.  After a couple of tests, I found out I had UTI, and so started medications Monday.  There were also echoes found on my kidney so the doctor recommended I see a urologist.  So I did that on Tuesday and I was told they were stones.  Hmmm... I could either take daily medications for months or undergo ESWL (extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy), which I had no clue about.  The doctor showed me a simulation of the procedure on her iPad and it looked simple enough.  It's non-invasive and uses shock waves to break down the stones so that they can be passed with the urine.  I was scheduled for ESWL 8:30AM on Saturday.  I got instructions from the nurse about needing to fast 8 hours prior

Interesting finds around the internet. PAPERFASHION .  This blog is a treasure!  I am so glad to have stumbled upon it.  Katie Rodgers is a very talented artist/illustrator.  And she uses watercolor which, in my opinion, is a difficult medium to master. Donna Downey .  I love her collages.  Now I want to got to the bookstore and get supplies! The Hunger Games  in 2012.  This is a really great teaser.  I'm excited for the movie! Shake Up Christmas music video by Train.  I watched it then realized I was smiling. 

Monday, November 14, 2011 .  I attended Developing High-Trust Teams training with other team managers in the company.  It was facilitated by Ardy Abello of BusinessWorks .  It was from 9AM to 4PM and by the end of it, I had 7 pages of notes - a testament to how much notable content there was and my note-taking skills. =)  Seriously, I consider attending training as opportunities so I make sure I learn the most that I can, and remember them.  Thus, the notes.  And because notes on paper can be lost, here's the abbreviated version for (my) future reference. Photo by LA Adriano 4 Stages of a Team . I know this already but I got new insights from the training. Forming Adding members on the basis on competence, identify roles. Law of the Chain says weakest link determines the strength of the team. "If two people are exactly alike, there is no need for one of them." Storming Development of goals and strategies, bring clarity.  Team conflicts have very little

I was at Starbucks waiting for Neil's class to end.  I picked up a couple of magazines, on of which was Celebrity Living, October 2011 issue. There's an article on Barbie Almalbis and Martin Honasan's home in Marikina.  I love their house!  It has a lot of elements that I would like to have as well - art, music, books and a photo wall.  I took photos for future reference. Barbie has a collection of guitars and I like how they are functionally displayed in the space below.. (Side note: The neck of the old guitar I got in college broke months ago and it was irreparable so I had to let it go.  I want a new one.  Rich, are you reading this?) Martin is an artist and their house is equipped with a studio.  When this article was written, he was still working on his first one-man exhibit ( Digging in the Dirt ) which we were able to see at the Power Plant Mall.   (Side note #2: Art/painting another favorite hobby but I haven't engaged in it in years.  Not to say tha