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!