Joy’s running

March 29 2009

SM Mall of Asia, 6:00 am

My first 5K run which lasted for 34 minutes. Hah!

Not to start a running blog though. Waha. Significant other nudged me to run one Sunday after he finished his 10K. So I said why not? And he said I better cut on protein and ice cream so I said, no way! But he won. I was excited, really. It means I’m totally embracing the “runner’s life”. It’s like saying “I’m watching my food intake now because I dont want any stomachache while hitting the treadmill”. So there.

Happy new year

This New Year brings forth so much hope. I’ve never been quite hopeful in my life. My teenage years played around the border of pessimism and reverse psychology stuff. Today, i declare myself a positive person. If that’s the equivalent of hopeful.

Today is also my first day at the office for 2009. Taking a sick leave sounds really irresistable on a freezy Monday morning. Moreso, when you have barely slept the night before, but that’s another story.

I spent the new year’s eve at my boyfriend’s place. There were only seven of us: his cousin, his cousin’s wife, his two nephews and his aunt who never married. The food was great, and the fireworks, plenty. I enjoyed the time i was there. They treated me very kindly and even shared some recipe secrets. By the time the road is safe enough to drive, they took me home. That was around 2 am.

Evening of January 1, boyfriend and I went to Cavite to visit my aunts and uncles. My father and sister spent the new year there, while my brother was in his cubicle answering the same inane calls.  When we arrived, we were welcomed with faces trying to smile, trying not to show hurt, trying to be warm, trying to stay awake. I hardly made my thoughts known. I just busied myself with the food, although i was far from hungry.

I was only too glad that my family were talking, and i mean talking to him in a familiar way, and not pushing their alcohol on his mouth. That evening he has to go home, while i was left to suffer the consequence of spending the New Year with the most important person in my life.  

A Family Affair

Last time I remember, i invited the boyfriend to meet my family which went on well, except that event when the boyfriend had allergies after drinking a few shots of Fundador, thanks to my uncles. Typical boy-meets-the-parents plot eh but how i wish my family knows better. My family need not say that they are testing if the guy who claims he has fallen inlove with me has the balls to prove it. Oh anyways. 

What Joy Would Buy with Php39

Now that I am constantly practicing a lifestyle focused on healthy living, i thought it to be timely posting a revised version of this post to describe how serious I am keeping my body away from junk food, MSG and cooking oil. You see I NEVER ever do exercise during my highschool and college days even if i was jokingly teased by our neighbors implying i am fat, thus “ayan na si Joy, kakain ng bahaw” in my eardrums whenever i was on my way walking home from school. I was at ease with briskwalking and the occasional backyard badminton with friends to take care of my baby fats plus the saying that you shed those fats as you grow up anyway.  Thinking this can get me to a Bb Pilipinas shape with no effort at all was turning out to be false hope when i started working here in Makati and saw girls/women my age with actual jaws i thought didnt ever existed.

But no, it didnt dawned on me right away. This whole living healthy thing started because i was head over feet with a certain guy and i would do anything to be with him, even if that means i have to run a race track. And run I did, at Marikina Sports Complex almost every weekend not  expecting it could practically change my life.

What i would buy with 39 pesos:

Mister Donut Choco Bagel with Coffee

Dole Sliced Apple at 7-11

Big Oatmeal Cookie at Fruitmagic

Three huge Cavendish bananas and Coke Light in can

McDonald’s chicken fillet (you take out the breading)

McDonald’s value salad in ranch dressing

three packs of whole wheat Skyflakes crackers and Dutchmill yogurt drink

Monoveauday

Just for the record, i woke early this morning just in time to reach the office at exactly eight thirty which is something i havent done for the past months. Yes, i suck with rules, thank you very much.

One particular thing that triggered me to post this day after what seemed like a rebellion against i.ph is the fact that i missed an office outing. See i dont usually go to the beach or party like an animal because i am naturally a quiet person but growing up and realizing the importance of socializing, the introvert me was opened up to a wonderful opportunity of having fun without taking my clothes off. And no, i dont mean that’s the only fun i know of (heh). Its the great people and cheap talk - to put it simply.

 Words may not be enough. Go figure.

i missed kayaking

missed the customary group shot

the jump shot

…and a hundred of things more.

Moving out of the old office

We were scheduled to move to the new office building next week. I think ill miss my cubicle so i took a picture of it.

The thought of moving to a new work environment is exciting and at the same time tiring. Just the thought of it tires me. Imagine having to organize all your stuff that if only they can breathe a sentence, they’d say something like “Leave us alone. We’re happy being disorganized!” And so with full reluctance, i packed them up one by one, disposing the unnecessary ones.

I must admit, wherever I go I tend to stack up on things that are actually not suppose to be kept. Old receipts, tissue papers from various restaurants, paid bills, scratches from seminars I’ve attended, keychains, little toys, etcetera etcetera. Yet i keep on losing the important ones!

I’m weird like that.

Anyways, I’ll probably post more soon because this office move thing does not make me a happy worker. They say the new office is smaller and there arent any dividers to separate me from another worker, er, that means i have to be more careful about netsurfing. Boo. 

Because he’s 43

When I told my folks that somebody was courting me, they got excited to know who the blind sorry man was so I told them stuff like "ow, he’s into designing houses and construction" to which I got "How old is he?"  "Where is he from?" and "How and where did you meet?" So I said to myself, of course you want to know everything. You guys always do. By the way, they felt sorry for the both of us.

So I told them the story from the day he started texting me until the present situation. But. I doubt if they ever listened to all that I’ve said given that they were so asorbed with him being a forty something guy, unmarried and unfathered, wooing a 20 something girl barely going out into the world. I didnt remember telling them about a manananggal but they sure looked terrified.  A couple of future scenarios graphically described and insinuated followed and then I desperately wished I was an old maid. 

They met him personally during my birthday. It was a feast and the food was great. I was happy for a moment until I realized that his presence makes them quiet, observing and speculative. I’ve never seen them act like that before. One of my uncle said he’s always been looking up to me for being great at school and my craft until he learned that I’m going out with someone as old as my father. Did it hurt? Of course it did, but to say i’m hurt and hating is losing to their arguments. Thing is, I can’t argue with them because i know how it is to argue with your father, mother, aunts and uncles. They show you how they love you through intimidation, that’s what i see.

So now im partially hoping that they learn about him through this blog, how he changed me, made me lose weight, made me stay away from pork, made me exercise, made me pray every mealtime, made me listen to my heart, made me secured, loved, cherished, appreciated, lavished and adored. How he made me a better person everyday.

Because he’s 43 is a blessing, not a curse you insist on believing.

After the busy audit season

The days are fast approaching, indeed and it’s good to know i’m still alive after the busy season that went by, atleast in the firm where i’m working at. The sleep-deprived nights has revived the zits in the visible areas of my face (bangs are good concealers) which prompted me to visit a facial center. And i’ve never been to one before. Needless to say, the experience was painfully yet happily addressed. I am not in a particularly cheerful mood right now so just check out the gallery if you feel the urge to see my  face with mudpack.

The work-related stress triggered a lot of emotions in me. Having to juggle the demands of work, family and the significant other rendered me incapable of treating my boyfriend right, which even extends to dismissing an urgent phonecall.  We’re only human, you might say, but on the contrary i felt as though i’ve let my loved one fall despite the words i promised him before - that I will be there for him, no matter what. Sometimes i dont realize the consequence of the things I do until i’m told and that sucks. How I dealt with it? Don’t ask. To say its the hormones acting up would the most sorry excuse ever. And it was. I cried and snuck out goo from my fat nose. 

That and some failures here and there which are keeping me on my toes - not a bad thing. The credit card bills still exist, my stubborn father still has his own world, my equally hard-headed brother wont step into college and thank God, I have no qualms about my sister because she obeys me, even though it takes one week for her to get my instructions done. I could not complain. Some have it worse and would willingly embrace my circumstances in exchange with theirs.

I had it with the topic of procreation.

Next thing to talk about tomorrow morning when i’m sunny.

divider

I had missed blogging for sometime now. Activities from left and right are  constantly springing, which is actually a good thing. As you already know, my life before used to revolve around my gray hued office cubicle, thus the shameless documentations i would rather dismiss as the dormant stage in m professional career. That’s why it came as a surprise when the promotions were announced. Although later on, it was revealed that the promotion is not based on the performance of the candidates but on the necessity of the firm to expand and integrate people to lead more engagements. But anyway.

I dont have to sound like I’m explaining to my readers do I? There are no readers.

Truth is, i’m such a lousy blogger because i cant construct a simple sentence describing how bland my days were.  And besides, i kept losing my camera phones so i cant post new pictures. To top it all off, my blogging skills arent getting any better. Lack of time + Lousy blogging skills = no post. So there.

them

Somehow along the way i lost to the monster who suck all my urges to blog. thinking back, there were actually a lot of "bloggable" moments that went before my eyes only to be dismissed with a smug shrug. Oh anyways.

I celebrated my birthday last march 10 at Blackbeard’s Seafood Island in Cubao. Present were my relatives and my two sibs, and the LI. It was a pretty enjoyable night. Nanay was also there. Couldnt have been any better.

I introduced The LI to them and they all seemed to make a passive face, having that straight expression plastered all over their miens as though something is bound to be amiss. I’d like to think that they like him right away but it’s like saying i wish he could be younger.

Oh what the heck.

a glimpse

And so, my days have been filled with sweet and noteworthy moments eversince I commit myself to the love interest. Now i’m afraid he has turned into someone I’d like to keep for myself forever. It’s something that feels warm and homey inside but at the same time the fear of losing it bites me alive. I should learn how to love right.

:(

Because I recently got a pimply face (thanks to pond's "flawless nightcream") and a dull facial skin, i am inclined to blog about this day full of shit. *shitfaced*

For the past few days of flirting with the boyfriend whom from now on I will call the LAVA (Lover in slang, could also mean molten lava *woot* i should patent that no?), my life has become a little bit more exciting day by day -and a positive one at that. Now why you say am i ranting again as if i have NOTHING to be grateful about??

Well, for one, I do think that the entire universe is conspiring against my skin. No matter how I try to make it better, even alloting a budget for goatmilksoaps and lotions with Q10+ thereby rendering me broken from time to time (i'm a crap at budgetting i know, but hey, i deserve credit for Effort), and applying the damn creams religiously and i mean religiously without fail, i still cant understand why up to this day i cant stop having acne breakouts and a luxury of tiny zits! Isn't it as simple as cleanse, tone and moisturize?  Exfoliate/face mask twice a week? Gah! I dont even eat fries anymore and even if i'm ever so reluctant to go to the restroom to pee, i still drink minimum of eight glasses of water (for clearer skin). oh what a Big bull sh*t!

I DONT MIND HAVING A ZIT OR TWO, i really don't. I mean, what are concealers for? But what really makes me tick is the fact that i'm spending on products that promise to keep my acnes at bay and blatantly break it! I mean, why the heck is cetaphil so expensive??!!!

Lava, i need Cetaphil..

[edit: 1:55pm 01/11/2008] I read at Cosmo that studies show shots of double cappuccino can cause acne break-outs! So that was the cause.

a recap

  Whoppee, another year to boot. Happy New Year! Was I happy the previous year? Let me see:

January - nothing worth of braincells.

February - I started blogging at Xanga about my early frustrations at work, or if i may say so, failing at work.

March - my birthday was cool. I think I cooked spaghetti or something. I remember the stink of the room we were renting back then. 

April - not much

May - not much

June - got my first credit card

July - not much

August - not much

September - i got my teeth braces.

October - got promoted. *wahaha*

November - lost weight, met a potential love interest

December - christmas parties and exchange gifts, family reunion, something something.

So what can I say, i havent learned how to ride a bicycle/scooter, drive a car, swim and bunjee jump.  Though, I have collected a number of magazines, saw a number of distinct movies, went out with a number of people (dated here and there), partied all night, went home in the morning, slept at my friend's houses and so and so. I must say I must have been pretty sociable. December had me tied down. This year is gonna be me and the concept monogamy. Not bad if you are with the coolest guy on earth.

Papa’s christmas

Christmas last year didn't bring forth that much excitement.  My parents were already separated that time and the wounds of the break-up were still fresh.  I remember doing the laundry in the afternoon and going to mass at night. My father was just quiet, watching tv and keeping his thoughts all to himself.  It didn't feel like Christmas but what is Christmas anyway? Its all about rejoicing for the coming of Christ and not mourning for a family that has broken apart. But all the same, without your family you cannot be genuinely happy for another family. Does that make sense?

I hope this year, the bitterness that ensued us has already subsided. My aunts and uncles are organizing a family reunion to be set at our hometown in Quezon. It should make my father be less wary of the future that lies ahead, he doesn't have to feel alone.

okayyyy

hay naku nakakatamad magpost pag walang picture. may camera phone nga ako wala namang infrared. nuknukan kasi ng pagkahitech tong laptop ko walang bluetooth. anyway, yun nga yung reason kung bakit sobrang dalang ko na magpost. mas gugustuhin ko pa maginternet kesa tumingin sa blankong space na may nag-iintay na kursor, kita na ngang blank minded din ako. lol

isa pa, meron na akong life. blogging is just for people who doesnt have a life. hehehe.

ciao

joy has a boyfriend

Let me see, Christmas is near and i'm still broke. HUWAW! isang taon na kong broke.

Anyway, i hope i can dig a little something something for my friends this season. They have done countless of notable deeds for me while all I did is just borrow money from them. With what remained of my tiny 13th month pay, i'm planning to scour 168 over the weekend. Wish me luck!!!

Oh yeah, there is one more thing that really really needs the blessings…

(more…)

back to basics: how to be good at work

What has become of me you ask? Dandy, unmindful, just taking in all that's coming. Trying to be useful but who knows i just might end up being a disaster. My head just spins talking about it.  Why can't everything be simple? Because the world is cruel and the ignorant is always the loser.

Anyway, let's discuss my behavior and work ethics for the past week. I have always been a responsible person until, I started working for an audit firm and was made open to blatant disregard for rules and regulations. I did not became aware of the change in my attitude until now, I realized, that I have to start at the bottom again and know what I SHOULD BE doing. Premise: My enemy is myself.

One. I have been going to work on a halfday that my bosses are starting to think i'm a ghost. What to do, sleep early at night so I can catch a complete 8 hour slumber so i can go to work early so i can show my bosses that i can be a good employee. Simple right? No. But. I. Okay. I can do it.

Two. Start taking down notes on paper because my brain is slowly and evidently resembling a magic-slate.

Three. Just continue kissing my boss' asses.

Four. Replace my Fischer Price-y phone because my bosses would think i dont take my work seriously.

Five. Study the tax regulations to heart because being stupid in this job is just plain stupid.

kt tunstall-ific

Lately I find myself rocking to the music of this garl..

oh my i cant embed it. anyways, click on this link: http://www.megavideo.com/?v=F67A39ZM

No No No NO

You're not the one for meh..

dark room

So hello again. It's been a while since i took a closer look into my life. As much as I want to say it's been cool and that i'm doing great- yeah. You already know me. I am so negative about things even if they do turn out to be good later on. My bad. I guess im just used to not being very anticipative and all starry-eyed.  After the recent promotion I got, I only saw myself digging my own grave. I don't know.

I guess I'm too careless, too distracted, too occupied with things that are ought to be left, say, at home or wherever that is outside the bounds of my professional pursuit that I tend to commit lots of stupid mistakes at work. I am even sure that my senior whom I have found to be someone I can call my mentor thinks that I am beginning to be less competent to do a more complex job. 

My current worry - the state of mind I'm in.  And for this reason, I allege myself a non-logical, irrational, non-analytical corporate squatter - totally out of place. 

What Joy would buy with 39 pesos:

What Joy would buy with 39 pesos:

A Jollibee yum burger

2 pcs of Dunkin Donuts choco wacko, 3 pcs. Flattops and 2 pcs  mentos

A Wendy’s zesty garlic chicken burger and 3 pieces of Flattops

A serving of Jollibee spaghetti

A Mcdonald’s chocolate sundae, 6 pcs Flattops and a coin for my piggy bank

Mr. Chips, salad dressing at Wendy’s, iced tea