Comfort Food

Food for the Soul list:

• Ice Cream - Yum! Yum! There's a new product from Nestle - Heaven's ice cream that enables me to indulge some more! My Old Time favorite is Nestle's Double Dutch flavor.
• Chocolate Cake - always put a smile on my face regardless of the source - may it be the one in our office canteen, at Red Ribbon, Starbucks, Pepper Lunch or homemade.
  
• Mr Chips - I'm not much fond of junk food but I cannot resist Mr Chips whenever wherever I see a bag of it!
• Green Mango with bagoong - If bagoong is not available, soy sauce with sugar will do.
• Yogurt - There's something about yogurt especially the Strawberry variant made by Nestle that simply relaxes me. For the past 10 years now, I've added yogurt as one of my comfort food.

List of food above always give me a certain high whenever I have a chance to savor them!

Different Folks, Different Strokes

In our daily lives, we meet different types of people.. I tried to do my own classification. Within the categories, there are varying degrees... Here are some types of people most of us meet and deal with in our lives. They may be found in your community, office, at the restaurants, malls, church, schools..

• Friend - you can feel in an instant their genuine concern for your welfare. They are those whom you can trust,a shoulder to cry on, a confidant. Some wrongly categorized as "friend" can fall in the other descriptors as well.
• Relatives - bound by affinity or consanguinity.. Sometimes, you are left with no choice but to meet and interact with your relatives. They can also be your friend or any other type of person as well.
• Colleagues - Normally you work towards a common goal in any given situation. This allows room to choose who your colleagues are.. Rare is the occasion that your friend or relative is a colleague unless you are managing a family business. Colleagues can be any of the following below as well.
• Protector - you always feel secure when you're with them as if nothing wrong is going to happen.
• User - They might initially be friendly to you but in the end you'll realize that they want something from you
• Plastic - Fake Ones. Best in acting out. You might never know how they truly feel. They appear to be good initially but sooner or later, you'll see their true color. It might be difficult to distinguish plastic ones from friendly ones. With this, you have to go with your instinct.
• Trying Hard - They always try hard to blend in the crowd, try hard to impress somebody or everybody.. 
• Safe - the not so obvious version of trying hard.. they try not to take any stand/side.. if in case they need to, they go not necessarily where it is the right one to go but where it is safe for them to do so.
• Toxic - they are the type of people you want to run or stay away from as they sometimes can be a burden to you or drains your energy in a way.. Somehow when you're with them you feel that you are just compelled to be with them but you wish that you'd do something else instead. It's your duty to be with them rather than your want.
• Bully - They love to power trip. They love to brag a lot and belittle most of the time hurt verbally or physically others.
• Kisser - no they don't kiss your lips but they kiss your ass instead. This is a very common experience for people in the senior management position.
• Lover - Normally we only have one at a given time but for others, it might be an exception and they might have 2 or more at any given time.
• Loved - We are entitled to have as much as we want with these types of people.. they can also be our friends, they can even be relatives or colleagues.

Wake Up Routine

I have a few morning habits that I have been accustomed to. Sharing some of them in random and wishing to continue these habits until I grow older:

• Pray. Give thanks to the Lord for giving us another day to live.
• Urinate. I used to urinate in the middle of the night but nowadays, the first thing I do upon waking up is to go to the bathroom to pee. Sometimes I feel the need to pee few minutes than my usual wake up time. I don't mind though as it cleanses my body from toxins.
• Drink a glass of water. I always feel thirsty in the morning when I wake up and so I drink a glass of water to quench my thirst. I've learned that drinking a glass of water upon waking up is a good practice as it replenishes the moisture lost in our body the night before.
• Give your loved ones a hug and/or a kiss whichever comes first. This habit always makes me feel good once done.

I then proceed to eat a healthy breakfast and start doing things that I need to do for the day!

Night Time Routine

Once I get home from work or during my usual weekend nights, I've somewhat established a routine that I usually practice. Here goes my list:

• Drink a glass of milk (or sometimes pineapple juice) - From dairy dose to fiber drink -these are my magic drinks. The importance of dairy in our diet has always been known and emphasized. They say that drinking a glass of milk before bedtime is beneficial as milk has serotonin which makes us sleep calmly.  A glass of Del Monte Pineapple juice is my milk substitute whenever we ran out of milk in the household. I've recently observed that drinking pineapple juice at night enables me to have a regular bowel movement the morning after. I've heard that drinking pineapple juice at night also increases your body's tendency to burn calories while sleeping.
• Take a bath - It has been a habit since childhood to take a warm or cold bath at night. Although I normally don't wet my hair unless I feel so icky and dirty. I tried once not to take a bath at night and found it a challenge to get to sleep thus I got up and took a quick warm bath and slept peacefully after.
• Watch prime time television shows - With the proliferation of DVD series and with the digital age that almost everything can be found it the internet, I still can't get hold of watching tv.
• Check my email and surf the net while watching TV - Thank God for the internet as I can now keep in contact with my relatives and friends who are far away. I almost forgot how it is to miss someone courtesy of  Skype, YM and other networking sites such as Facebook and Multiply.
• Brush my teeth and drink a glass of water afterwards - This routine marks that I am about to go to sleep in less than an hour or so.
• Apply facial moisturizer on my face and neck, apply eye cream near the eyes and lotion all over my body - I sometimes skip applying lotion all over my body especially if I have a massage session at home since I ask the masseuse to spread either lotion or oil all over my body .
• Go to bed.
• Pray and give thanks to God for the day that has been.
• Read a few pages of a certain book or a magazine until I feel sleepy - I always have a "flavor of the month" book or magazine which I always keep at my bedside for night time reference.
• Give hubby a good night peck on the cheek - I feel guilty of not consistently doing this habit. What I sometimes do as a substitute is to say good night to him when laziness strikes that I don't want to get up the bed anymore as hubby always sleep later than me. 
• Go to sleep.

Christmas and Birthday Wishlist

It's Christmas time once again apart from a wish list consisting of good health, more happiness and success for myself and my family, one can't seem to avoid to wish for material stuff needed and wanted.

I hope to buy mostly those in my list before Christmas but since we only have a few extra monies before the year ends and other financial obligations are of top priority, I need to delay my purchase probably early next year when we receive our perquisites. 

Suddenly, wishful thinking kicks in and I hope to receive a few in my list at Christmas time or as a birthday gift from my parents, relatives and closest friends. Since most of them don't have access and time to read my blog, this will be a game of mental telepathy for us or a situation of "ask and you shall receive" answer when they will inquire on what I want for Christmas:

1. Gym Clothes - sports bra, dri-fit top/bottoms and gym bag. I haven't invested much on gym clothes yet even if I wanted to. I have to sacrifice my vanity for proper gym attire with regular jogging pants, cotton and company shirts since I need to spend my money on other important stuff. Out of resourcefulness,  I am currently using my firstborn's big baby bag as my gym bag!
   
2. All around carry bag good for office and casual wear. The last time I bought a bag for myself was more than 2 years ago.. Most of my bags are relatively given to me by relatives. 3 of my bags already said goodbye to me. Another 2 are about to retire but I pleaded with them to stay with me a little longer (read: still continue to use despite their condition) until I find a good replacement. I've found a great red replacement thanks to my sister in law who gave me a bag for a souvenir. Still need to find a replacement for my black,cream and mustard/brownish one.
3. Comfortable High Heeled Shoes - I need to invest for more office appropriate shoes. What usually works best for me are those in bigger type of heels, wedge type and not much of the stiletto ones.  I wish I could have pairs of the following hues: silver, white, gold, brown/tan, black
4. Radio/CD Recorder/Player - My little daughter loves to hear songs from the player unfortunately she got so fond of the remote that volume of our CD player seem not to work anymore.  I hope I can find a good replacement for this to play her lovely nursery songs.
5. Oven Toaster - Our oven toaster recently malfunctioned and it is already beyond repair. We are tuna sandwich or cheese pimiento sandwich lovers in the family. We are toasting our bread currently at the teflon as we don't have time yet to buy a good oven toaster that will last for years. Hope we can find a good replacement soonest.
6. Bed Frames - Single Size and Double Size Bed Frames are needed soon in our house. I am currently seeking for a great and affordable bed frames for our extra room and the kid's bedroom. I hope I could find one that fits the budget
7. Table/Rack good for magazine and newspapers in wenge color.  We only place our magazines/old newspaper on the floor. Still hasn't found time to go out to home stores and buy a magazine stand/rack to our fancy and color requirement.After visiting my friend's lovely abode, I now started to become conscious of color coordinating the stuff  in our place. Most of my stuff in our place were purchased in my single years and majority were only hand-me-downs by relatives who already returned back in our province. Since their function was of a necessity, I did not mind initially that they don't mix and match. Nowadays, for additional household purchases, I try as much as possible to have the items mix the color scheme of our current house.
8. Condo Unit makeover. We bought our condo bare and simple. We just repainted the house and placed necessary fixtures given limited budget we had then. Imagine on the same year we got married, bought a condo and gave birth! Nowadays, I start to ask myself on when we could possibly have our unit renovated. Perhaps in the next 3-5 years once our little tots go to big school. Probably this makeover list will remain in my wish list for the next few years or so.  Or maybe there's any home makeover promo that we could participate nowadays? :)
9. Tops - casual shirts or office clothes. I think I need to upgrade my wardrobe. I hope to receive a few tops that I can use either for casual wear or for office wear.
10. Havaianas. My pair used at home just got destroyed from wear and tear for about 2 years. I have another pair but I normally use it for yoga classes and after gym wear. I currently settled with my crocs at home (used during my last pregnancy about 2 years ago) as havaianas replacement.

Lessons Learned at Work

I had an unusual month at work. I look forward to better days... I've always chosen the less travelled path but I know in time my efforts will pay off. After eight years of working, I want to share with you my own random list of things learned at work: 

1. Always be a helping hand - in simple and complicated things. For you it may be nothing but for others it is a big thing. Be ready though as some may use you and some may abuse you. Take each situation as a preparatory to the next big thing to come at work or in life in general.
2. Politics is everywhere. It is present whatever position you are into. I've never been a fan of politics. Maybe that's why my growth is relatively slower than expected by others. I would rather do my best in the most sincere way possible even if decisions made will be quite unpopular or disliked by many.
3. If you've decided to stay longer and grow old in the company you are currently into, do not let someone take that away from you or alter your decision. Be strong enough and swallow few pride left. Try to stay away from that person in all ways that you can.
4. Don't lose hope. Always believe in the saying "there's a light at the end of the tunnel". Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down but never forget life's experiences and learnings along the way. Whatever worries you have at work, this too shall pass.
5. Be happy for others even if it means sacrificing your own happiness. There may be times that senior managers fail to see what you've done (or worst credit it to someone instead!). When this happens, give yourself an imaginary pat at the back.
6. Don't wait for the company or your boss to reward you for a great job done. Go ahead and treat yourself to a massage or buy that great pair of shoes you've always been eyeing for!
7. Be tenacious. It will help prepare you how to handle frustrations and hurdles in the future.
8. Some boss might fail to praise nor thank their coworkers. Never acquire this habit. Always appreciate everybody's worth. A simple thank you to colleagues inspires them to do more and hopefully would make you become a better leader someday. 
9. Share your glory. Give chance (a chance to be recognized) to others! Always remember, no man is an island  for every work you do, I'm sure others have helped you did a wonderful job. When your boss praise you for a great work done - be brave and generous enough to acknowledge in front of him who have helped you along the way. A true leader is never selfish enough to share his success!
10. Disagreements might come along the way. Choose your battles - small enough that you know you can win and big enough that matters. 
11. Champions and leaders are positioned not for others to serve them but for them to inspire others to do a fantastic job.
12. Trust your instinct - they are always right. In whatever situation you are in - be honest. This is relatively self-explanatory.

Although learned at work, lessons above largely helped me grow as a person.