It's Hard To Look The Other Way

Things went fine today. All good as a matter of fact. The saying "the day will take care of itself" is true for today. Nurture your positive thinking and things will fall into the right places. I thank God for that. Smooth.

Snapshots of my day.....

I voted in the morning together with my husband. It's the local elections and we practiced our right to vote.

It's supposed to be a holiday but I have to be at the office in the afternoon for the monthly strategic review. It turned out good and suddenly, I really didn't mind if we were called to report for the meeting unlike how I was feeling when I first read the announcement for it. We are pressed for time as next week will be another four-day work week because of All Saint's Day. This was my first time to attend the organization's strategic review since I am new. I prepared for my presentation and glad it was a breeze. I know now what to expect next time.

There was good camaraderie among my colleagues. I hope this continues.

Great sales performance! My team and I received a commendation for it.

My daughter had her screening at the church finally. It also went well. She had her church duty tonight.

My daughter and I were able to schedule her reviews for their mastery tests in advance. :)

I was home early. I brought home siomai fron Hen Lin which really tastes good.

I had a fairly smooth ride even if it was raining.

And with all these blessings, it's hard to look the other way.

I was lining up in the taxi bay when a man carrying a baby appeared among the crowd. He was selling fresh sampaguita flowers to each person in the line. As expected most people ignored him. I tried not to look when he came in front of me. But I gave in.

I looked for my wallet and gave the man P20 without getting the flowers. On my mind was the money was for the child at least. What is it compared to how he must be feeling? He's not actually begging but selling flowers but with that pity-me stance, holding a baby on a rainy night. Talk about abuse. But what the hell. Let me spare a few pesos. That won't hurt me but maybe he'll use it to buy some food.

Did I just help a parasite? Well, he was selling sampaguita. Let God take care of the man, especially the child he was holding.

Home Sweet Home

It just feels good to be home. :)))

*Picture from All Things Cupcake.

My Comfort Zone

I prayed for this, for the position at least. And now I have it. I am tempted to tell myself be careful what you wish for. But no, I am thankful God has given me this opportunity. It's not easy but I know He has a purpose in giving this to me so soon. On my mind was I'll prepare myself thoroughly for this position a year or so after I've flexed my muscles some more in the corporate world.

Ironic as it may sound after landing this valuable but painstakingly demanding job, there's one thing I realize and this comes from the heart. My career does not define me anymore. Whereas before I see myself as a fulfilled woman having to balance career and family life, among other things, I see my life now in a different perspective.

Sure my career is very important because it gives me financial freedom. It fulfills me in the sense that it opens more opportunities to learn new things, meet all kinds of people, contribute significantly to the company and share my learning to my team and co-workers. I give my best in my line of work.

But gathering from my experience, everything is temporary. We cannot hold on to things or positions like our life depend on them. We will thrive, a great life will go on without them. Apart from my family, my happiness lies with the thought that I serve a God who never abandoned me in my life (even if I thought He did, shame on me), who always restores me whenever I go astray or failure hits my plans. I am comforted by the fact that I am secured because I have a God who sees me through, leads my way and helps me succeed. I have proven this since I was a child. I serve a God who does not mind if I am a vice president of a company or if I am a stay-at-home mom whose happiness is to take care of her family. Why would I mind either or other people?

I am calmed by the thought that God sees me as a whole person no matter what I do. I feel secured because God has given me the gift of faith. I entrust God my life for His plans for me, and my family, are always for the best. I have witnessed that so many times in my life. All I have to say is Thank You.

The Life of a Working Mom

In the middle of crunching numbers and strategic planning, I thought of what I wanted for the next day's lunch and my daughter's food she will bring to school. So I quickly called the house while managing the spreadsheet in front of me and asked the help to thaw the chicken thighs. I plan to prepare pasta with garlic chicken. Once I made the instruction, I went back to my excel files.

I was in the middle of a ManCom meeting when my husband gave me a ring. He has no work on Mondays so he personally takes care of our daughter. I was a bit agitated. Why would he call? Why didn't he just text if he wanted to say something? It took me a few minutes before I returned his call because the CEO was speaking and I was sitting directly in front of him so I just can't leave my seat. My husband just wanted to say our daughter did not show up during lunch time so he just left the food with the school guard. There was no answer from my daughter's cell phone according to him. I asked him why didn't he go inside the campus and looked for our daughter. He said our daughter's a big girl and she can take care of herself and she can call our cell phones or our landline if there's something she needs.

No, no, no, no. If I was in his shoes, I'll check my daughter in their classroom and just bring the food.

I just have to call my daughter and see what's up. Good thing she answered and said it took them some time to leave their Computer class so she was not able to pick up her lunch on time. I miss her when I heard her voice. My baby. I want to hug her right then and there. I can be a very cheeeezy mom, you know.

As an aside, why can't men be as detailed and as worried as women??? I remember a friend telling the same thing when her husband told her their daughter had an injury from her P.E. class. My friend naturally got worried but she can't get any details from her husband. Oh well.

There's a storm so I wanted to go home as quickly as possible but I was on the lookout where I can buy pasalubong for my daughter. I don't want to go inside the supermarket anymore as lining up the counter will steal some more minutes. Good thing there's a pastry shop and candy corner on the way to the taxi area. I was able to buy wheat bread for myself, hopia monggo for hubby and chocolate sunflower seeds for my daughter she loves. Seeing her giving me that big smile warmed my heart.

A Pleasant Surprise

Thanks to my good friend, Cess, for handing over an invitation to attend the Ipanema event at Trinoma activity center two weeks ago. It's great that we can bring the kids along. My daughter went with me and she had a great time.

We were pleasantly surprised because my two cousins with our niece were there too. One of them works for a magazine that's why she is a frequent guest in events. I'm glad my friends understood that I spent most of my time in the event with my cousins. We don't see each other much and this one's a very good time to catch up.

There were a lot of activities kids and adults enjoyed. My daughter tried wall climbing, in her flats. Go, go, go, daughter!


My cousin and my daughter had fun with their nail art. I allowed my daughter to have her nails painted just for that event. She was ecstatic. :)


My niece and my daughter had their glitter tattoo also. My daughter had a blue seagull because "Justin Bieber has a seagull tattoo on his right hip bone". There, she said it.


My cousin and I took advantage of one of the services offered which is the foot massage. Relaxing. And what's best is that we were able to catch up what's the latest about each other.


Will any event that matters these days be complete without the photobooth? Maybe not. We had loads of pictures here since there were not much people lining up. We took advantage of the lull. Whoever thought of this photobooth for parties and events is a genius. It's really fun!