Welcome 2011!

The year 2010 is about to end. There are a lot of things to be thankful for before this year ends: good health, great friends, loving family! Thank You, Lord, for being with me all throughout the year! I'm ready for 2011, dear Lord! May You continue to provide countless blessings to my family, friends and yours truly! You are so good to me, dear Father! I give You back all the glory and honor. Amen.

Enjoy the New Year everyone! :D

Congratulations, Czarina, On Your New Job!

My best friend, Czarina, just landed on a job! I'm really happy for her! Way to go, Gat!

She had gone through series of interviews and she passed! She's on her way to becoming a call center agent like me! I'm so happy for her! She'll start her training on Monday. She's a call center newbie and I know how it is like when you're a newbie. With her wits and charm, I'm sure the upcoming training will all be smooth and easy for her.

I'm just happy for you, Gat! If only you're not miles away, I might have thrown a party for you! LOL! Would you take custom usb drives as a present? Or would you rather go out with me and party? I know you'd prefer the latter. Too bad, we're far apart. Let's save the celebration when we get together, aight?

I miss you, Bestest friend! hehehe... Love you much!

Not In The Mood To Fool Anyone...

Sleeping for hours yesterday gave me a lot of energy in doing my chores today. I felt like I'm a fully charged battery! :D

I was able to clean up my room, take care of the clutters, do my laundry, was able to do some online chores. Before the end of the day, I was able to go to Church. Well, that's one thing I should not miss doing! I basically go to Church on Thursdays and Saturdays of every week.

Before making this post, I practiced some songs on my guitar. One of those songs I might feature on Music Monday next week. I haven't posted my own cover of a popular song on this blog lately. I can't promise that I can make a post of a cover on Monday but I'll try.

It's about 12 midnight tonight. It's really a quiet night here. I'm listening to Michael Buble's song entitled "Hold On". It a very relaxing yet sad song. I'm just trying to fall asleep now. I wish this day takes a bit longer. It's the 1st day of April. I'm not in the mood to fool anyone. But to those who want to make the most out of it, you still have until 12noon later on to do it. April 1 still hasn't ended in other parts of the world.

I hope you guys have fun today!

Happy Mother's Day, Nanay!!!

Dear Nanay,

Thank you for everything especially for raising all three of us, your children. Even though we have a lot of differences, I really feel blessed to have a Mom like you. Thank you for teaching me how to be tough and thanks for loving me despite my stubbornness. I know I have caused you a lot of heartaches and you know I'm really sorry for all of my foolishness. As you can see, I have grown to be a decent woman and that's all because of you. I love you, Nay and I want you to know how grateful I am for having a wonderful Mom like you!

Happy Mother's Day to you!!!

Happy Birthday Bestfriend!!!

Today is my best friend's birthday! She turns 26 today and I want nothing but the best for her. Cheers to my beautiful friend, Czarina!


Czarina, I want you to know that I am really glad to have found a best friend like you! Thanks for all the good times and being with me on my worst! Thanks for always being there. I hope you'd find true happiness! I love you, Gat! Best friends for life!!!

Birthday Wishes For My Friend

On your birthday,
I wish for you the fulfillment
of all your fondest dreams.
I hope that for every candle
on your cake
you get a wonderful surprise.
I wish for you that
whatever you want most in life,
it comes to you,
just the way you imagined it,
or better.
I hope you get as much pleasure
from our friendship as I do.
I wish we were sisters,
so I could have known you
from the beginning.
I look forward to
enjoying our friendship
for many more of your birthdays.
I'm so glad you were born,
because you brighten my life
and fill it with joy.Happy Birthday!

By Joanna Fuchs

Labor Day '09

It's Labour Day! It was supposed to be a holiday but most of us, call center agents, still are obliged to work today. We received a lot of calls and it was pretty tiring. But the truth is, no matter how stressful our day went today, it really doesn't matter because the thought of getting double pay definitely brightened our day.

Labor Day is as usual rally day here in the Philippines. With too much going on in our country lately, a lot of people protest about all sorts of things. But today, rallies are focused mainly on wage increase. If my father is still alive, I'm pretty sure he's one of those protesters who parade on the streets. Fighting for the rights of the workers.


Today, the local government also held job fairs on some parts of the country for the increasing numbers of unemployed citizens. I hope there will be enough jobs for millions of them!

To those on vacation, enjoy the rest of the day!

Happy First of May and Happy Birthday to my beautiful Aunt Rose who is Lainy's mom! May you have many more birthdays to come! God bless! I love you Tita!!!

Happy Birthday Windy!!!

A wonderful friend is celebrating his BIRTHDAY today. I wish for him a life full of happiness and blessings from the Almighty because he soooo much deserve it.

To Windy of Windmill On The Hill, THANK YOU for being such a GREAT friend! For your birthday, here is a version of your favorite song by the Late Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender. This time, sung by Nora Jones. I hope you like it since the video has pretty Anne Hathaway in it with all the kissing! Lol!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINDY!!!

Birthday Photos at DAMPA

Taaddaaaann!!! Here are the pictures during my birthday at Dampa!!!

Quelly, Me and Mystique on our way to Dampa

The Girls and The Boys

And the yummy sea foods!!!

More pictures!

I had fun with them that day! Thank you Michelle, Czarina, Quelly, Kuya Jon and Rael for being there on my special day! Love you guys!!!

Thank you Lord for the satisfying meal that day!!! Burrrrp! Excuse me! Lol!

APRIL 8, 2009

I just turned 26 years old today! Yeah right! I'm now officially on the beginning of my LATE 20's! Michelle said that statement earlier today! It doesn't scare me though. I'm even excited! I wonder what's in store for me this year! Whatever they are, I hope it's better and brighter! Lol!

I was searching through Google for relevant post about turning 26 today and I stumbled upon the website Marc And Angel Hack Life where the author posted about 26 Life Lessons Learned by Age 26. The post really made me think over my life and how I lived it. I definitely can relate to the 26 Life Lessons listed on that post. I also want to share what I read. Thus, here's the list:

1. Being an adult can be fun when you are acting like a child.
2. Love has nothing to do with looks, but everything to do with time, trust, and interest.
3. Laughing, crying, joy and anger… All are a vital. All make us human.
4. The greatest truths in life are uncovered with simple, steady awareness.
5. Greed will bury even the lucky eventually.
6. Bad things do happen to good people.
7. Paving your own road is intelligent only if nobody has gone exactly where you are going.
8. Uncertainty is caused by a lack of knowledge. Hesitation is the product of fear.
9. Time heals all wounds… regardless of how you feel right now.
10. Most of the time what you are looking for is right in front of you.
11. Your health is your life.
12. Chance is a gift, so act on chance when given the opportunity.
13. Kindness and hard work will take you further than intelligence.
14. People deserve a second chance, but not a third.
15. Marry your best friend.
16. Take lots of pictures. Someday you’ll be really glad you did.
17. Money makes life easier only when the money is yours free and clear.
18. Carelessness is the root of failure
19. Your actions now create memories you will reminisce and talk about in your elder years.
20. Stepping outside of your comfort zone will put things into perspective from an angle you can’t grasp now.
21. Motivation comes in short bursts. Act while it’s hot.
22. Purposely ignoring the obvious is like walking backwards toward the enemy.
23. Taking ownership of failure builds the foundation for success.
24. First impressions are completely worthless 50% of the time.
25. Personal glory lasts forever.
26. If you never act, you will never know for sure.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME AND TO THOSE WHO ALSO CELEBRATE THEIR BIRTHDAYS!!!

Cheers!!!

Happy 62nd Birthday Nanay!!!

Ms. Nelly Olarte - that's my Nanay (mom)! Today she has turned 62 and it's still hard for me to believe that she's getting older.

I called her earlier to greet her a Happy Birthday and as always, Nanay sounded really enthusiastic. Hearing her upbeat voice and the crazy things that she did today always make me smile even laugh for a while. She told me that she had an appointment with her doctor this morning because she hasn't been feeling well lately. I felt a pang of guilt hearing her talk about being sick even though she make jokes out of it. As her only girl, I'm the one who's supposed to be taking care of her.

Am I just being stressed out from work? I think not. I miss my mom and I wish I'm with her today. I hope and pray that God will grant all her heart's desires and that we (me and my brothers) could be His instrument in bringing Nanay back to Him. I always dream of going to church together with my family some day.

I love you, Nay and may God give you many more birthdays to come!

Kalilangan Festival 2009

Today is the beginning of the week long celebration of Kalilangan Festival in my hometown - General Santos City. If Lainy wouldn't have mentioned it earlier on her Kuerdas blog, I wouldn't have remembered it.


Kalilangan Festival is an annual celebration wherein the Generals (people of General Santos City) commemorates the landing of the City's founder, General Paulino Santos, along with the first settlers from Luzon at the shores of the Sarangani Bay. Today is marked the 70th Foundation Anniversary of the City. Government officials have prepared a lot of fun activities in a week for the Generals!

This is one of the festivals that I miss most about General Santos City. When I was back there in my hometown, this is the time when we, the Kuerdas Band, were busy doing a lot of gigs. There was even a time that Me and my cousin Jayson, (who ignited my passion for music), along with other artists in General Santos City performed the Kalilangan song during the opening of the event! I remember singing it with great pride!

Kuerdas is on a Roll at a street party tonight sponsored by SMB (San Miguel Beer). For sure a lot of people will flock on their concert. Geez! I miss the fun and excitement on stage! Well, I'll just wait for Lainy's posts of photos and videos about the gigs and other activities of this year's Kalilangan Festival!

Way to go Generals!!!

sources:
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/gen/2008/02/29/feat/kalilangan.festival.2008.html
http://www.gensantos.com/2009/02/10/the-2009-kalilangan-festival-schedule-promises-more-pomp-and-pageantry/

How I Spent My New Year's Eve

Spending New Year's Eve with my family and relatives at Tupi, South Cotabato was splendid! I really had a great time with them. The most exciting part was when I initiated some games for the kids. Funny because I was like the Santa Claus for the moment since I was also in charged of handing a few prizes for them. The adults also had their share of fun because they enjoyed watching the kids play. The favorite was my niece Aying who kept on crying everytime she loses a game. She's the youngest among the kids. The grandmas were to her rescue everytime she cry her heart out. I was instructed to let her play along just to heed her from crying! Hahaha! See how they spoil the kid???

Ten minutes before the clock hit midnight, everyone gathered for a prayer. Afterwhich food was served and all of us enjoyed the yummy delicacies prepared. We also enjoyed the firework displays.

There were still noisy firecrackers and my brother and cousins are still singing on karaoke when I went to bed. I was so tired yet I still have the smile plastered on my face. At last, I was able to celebrate New Year with my family!

What about you? How did you spend your New Year's Eve?

Happy New Year!!!

Here's a toast for the new year!!! May we all have prosperous 2009! God bless us all!

turkey day!!!

Every fourth of November, people across United States celebrate Thanksgiving Day. People celebrate by gathering at home with family and friends. According to Wikipedia, this is an annual American Federal holiday to express thanks for one's material and spiritual possessions. This feast is related to the deliverance of the English settlers by Native Americans after the brutal winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

The most famous dish for this feast is a large toasted turkey. Hmmm... That must be yummy! I wonder how it tastes like. I actually haven't come across a roasted turkey displayed in any feasts and celebrations that I have attended here in the Philippines.

By the way, I have a turkey story. This was actually told by one of my colleagues. It was last year she was taking calls during Thanksgiving Day. They are in the middle of troubleshooting when the customer placed her on hold.

After a 3 minutes the customer came back panting.

customer: I'm sorry about that.
agent: Oh, it's ok sir. But are you alright?
customer: Yes! I'm ok (but still catching his breath). I just caught a turkey on my yard! (laughs)
agent: Oh! Great! Then you will have roasted turkey for dinner,huh?
customer: Yeah! I just hope my neighbor won't come looking for it!


Fortunately our company gave us additional day off for today's celebration since not a lot of people would be calling today. Americans would be busy for Thanksgiving Day.

For me, everyday should be Thanksgiving Day! We must always be grateful with everyday's little miracles. Simple gestures that we sometimes take for granted is actually worth a THANK YOU. Let's live life in the spirit of humility and thoughtfulness!!!

Happy Thankgiving Day everyone!!!