Thursday, November 27, 2008

men have weaknesses too...

I suddenly remembered this daily devotional I have once read, and thought of sharing it with everyone, especially to the ladies whose partners are going through some difficult times.

***

August 12, 2008

A PLEA FOR UNDERSTANDING
by Charles R. Swindoll
Read Job 2:1--9

I want to confess that for too long in my ministry I took unfair advantage of Job's wife, especially since she was not present to defend herself. I think it was probably due to immaturity on my part. Furthermore, I hadn't been married long enough to know better than to say those things. I cannot leave this one snapshot of Mrs. Job in the story without clarifying the record in her defense.

Now that you've seen the incredible disaster they shared, isn't it a little easier to understand how she could suggest, "Job, darling, let's just pull the plug. Don't go on. You can't keep living like this, I can't stand it. Curse God, and let Him take you home to be with Him." I think so. She's reached her limit and is willing to let him go. I'm not justifying the woman's reasoning as much as trying to understand it.

Always guard your words when your husband is going through terribly hard times. I want to confess something about us men. Mainly, I want you to remember: going through sustained hard times weakens most men. For some reason, hardship seems to strengthen women; we admire you for that. But we men are weakened when times of affliction hit and stay. In our weakened condition we lose our objectivity, sometimes our stability. Our discernment is also skewed. Our determination lags. We become vulnerable, and most men don't know how to handle themselves in a vulnerable state of mind. So in light of all of this---hear me---we need your clear perspective, wisdom, and spiritual strength. Most of all, we need you to pray for us as you've never prayed. We need not only your prayers, we need your emotional support. We need you to take the initiative and step up.

We need your words of confidence and encouragement. We even find it hard to say, "I need you right now." My wife could tell you that she lived with me for our first ten years of marriage before she ever thought I needed her. I finally admitted it and learned how to say it. In the lonely hours of a man's great trial, nobody's words mean more to him than his wife's words. That is one of the God-given reasons you and your partner were called to be together. When we husbands lose our way, you wives help us find our way back.


Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

twilight!

Nope! I didn't watch the advance screening of the movie.

Actually, Husband and I were supposed to, but due to some unavoidable circumstances, we were not able to go. Sayang! I got free tickets pa naman from a friend! I'm not really a big fan, but I still want to watch it.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

a love song


During our dinner, there's this one song playing on the background that I really noticed, and I couldn't help myself singing along with it... it made our dinner more romantic.


Everytime I Close My Eyes - Babyface


Kris Kringle Week 2: something useful



I received five pieces of microwave-safe food containers for last Friday's kris kringle! Definitely useful!

Thanks to the giver! :)

dinner special!

Teodoro's Grill
The Park @ Liberty Center
Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City, Philippines



We once visited the place and liked their seafood kare-kare. And so, for our anniversary dinner, we opted for Teodoro's Grill again. Its location is just near our place, so we didn't have to worry about the pre-Christmas traffic jam.


The lights at the park created a romantic ambiance, making it a good choice for our simple celebration.


While waiting for our orders, I couldn't help but admire the simplicity of the Christmas decoration that adorned this corner across us. I've been wanting to put up some Christmas ornaments in our apartment, and I think this one could be easily duplicated at home. :) Husband promised to help me on this. *excited!*



And then our orders came...



We had our favorite seafood kare-kare. And Husband said since he didn't give me a bouquet of flowers this time, we are having chicharon bulaklak instead... "at least may bulaklak pa din!" :) We also had my favorite bangus belly, which they call bangus ala pobre. The fries tasted good too!

Husband had two servings of rice. He really enjoyed the dinner as much as I did. I ended up finishing his ripe mango shake, and he, my Sprite.

We were so full, finishing up so delighted. And here's what we have left them afterwards... :)



It's as if the married couple haven't had any meal for a day! :)

Monday, November 24, 2008

happy 2nd! :)


It's our second wedding anniversary today!

Despite the mild headache (caused by a migraine attack last night), I managed to cook some fried rice, and re-heat the pork and tofu meal we brought from my Mama's kitchen. It doesn't sound like a very appealing breakfast, I know, for a very special day. What made this morning special was that Husband and I re-viewed more than 1,500 raw pictures taken during our wedding two years ago.

It feels like it was just yesterday when we walked down the aisle, but the memories we have already shared seem like we have been together for five years now! We pray that by the grace of the Lord, we can brave any storm that will come our way, and that we may celebrate more wedding anniversaries... 'til death do us part.

Friday, November 21, 2008

countdown

It's Friday again! I hope to work on my tweety project over the weekend and finish it! If only I'd give it my time, I can do it in one sitting. And I say, that's the spirit! ;) So far, this is how it looks:


And as I eagerly look forward to seeing my final tweety, there are also few occasions that I can't wait to celebrate:
  • 3 days before our 2nd wedding anniversary. After the seemingly roller-coaster ride of marital life, we're now on our second year, and definitely still counting. *super happy*

  • 34 days before Christmas. I wish we can spend our vacation in Bicol again. The place is rejuvenating, a great treat after a year of hard labor!

  • 41 days before the New Year. The year is ending, another one is coming. Hopefully 2009 will be more promising and all that we have planned and worked for will finally bear fruit. And of course, another year to try to be better sa isip, sa salita, at sa gawa (in thoughts, in words, and in deeds).

bad hair day!

I had a scheduled product presentation this morning with one of our prospective clients. Because the meeting was set at 10, I consciously made the effort to be in the office before 9, at the latest, with the assumption that my colleague and I will be leaving at 9 to make it to the school (where we would be having our meeting) before the set time. If you are aware of how bad traffic in the roads of Manila can be, you would understand why I had to give an hour time allowance for our short travel.

I got up earlier than usual, needing to have more time to fix my unruly hair. But for some reason, I just had it towel-dried, and it had flown in all directions! My leave-on conditioner couldn't do anything about it!

Imagine being in a room with the school principal and all subject coordinators staring at me while I conducted the product demo. Good thing, the product I was presenting them about is an award-winning graphic organizer solution! I had their attention glued to the product and not on my hair. :)

They liked the software and that is all that matters. What do I care about how they think of my hair?! It was just a bad hair day after all! :)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

20th November 2006

Exactly the same day two years ago, I had already started my two-week vacation leave in preparation for our wedding (and the honeymoon). Although I knew we had already taken care of everything for the big day, I was still kind of worried that we might had overlooked on some tiny details.


Having planned everything all by ourselves (without any help from professional wedding planners), I called each of our suppliers to make sure they were not forgetting anything from what we have agreed upon. Everything was set, everyone was just waiting for that Friday to come. However, a day before the wedding, a relative had read in a newspaper that there's a scheduled electric power interruption in Tagaytay. Good thing, our ceremony and reception venues had backup generator sets. And the unforgettable moment went ahead as planned...


it's a wired world out there...


...literally and figuratively!

Everytime I would bring poqui to the office, my desk would look like the picture above. Aside from the piles of folders and other documents, my desk would be a mess of cables -- telephone and network cables, and at times, my mobile phone charger cable. It feels that I have grown too dependent on these electronic devices, that I can't seem to function well if one of them is missing. And even if my work is not always greatly dependent on the Internet, a disconnection from it feels like not having the energy to work effectively. Just a state of mind, perhaps. And I hope our HR manager doesn't read this post, or I might be in trouble. :)

It is really such a wonder how powerful information technology nowadays is. It is so much easier and faster to keep in touch with our loved ones despite the thousands-of-miles distance between us. But no matter how personal our communication with them is over this information high-way, still, nothing beats the warmth of personal hugs and kisses... incomparable to all the emoticons available on any site!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Kris Kringle Week 1: describe me

Every year around this time, most of us, if not everyone, are looking forward to our company Christmas party. One of the most awaited parts of the occasion is the kris kringle revelation time.

For this year, we shall be giving small gifts (amounting to PhP30.00) for five consecutive Fridays, which started last Friday. Last Friday's theme was "something to describe your baby." And my "mommy" (or is it a "daddy?") gave me this:


I guess who ever got my name for a baby knows that I tame my kinks using this leave-on hair conditioner.

I wonder what am I going to receive next Friday... that my "mommy or daddy" thinks is useful for me... hmmm...

Monday, November 17, 2008

prayer

"Anyone who is having troubles should pray.
Anyone who is happy should sing praises."
-James 5:13

Do you want to know how to deepen your prayer life?
Pray. Don't prepare to pray. Just pray.
Don't read about prayer. Just pray.
Don't attend a lecture on prayer or engage in discussion about prayer. Just pray.

Posture, tone, and place are personal matters.
Select the form that works for you. But don't think about
it too much. Don't be so concerned about wrapping the gift
that you never give it. Better to pray awkwardly than not at all.

And if you feel you should only pray when inspired,
that's okay. Just see to it that you are inspired everyday.


by: Max Lucado
Grace for the Moment

Sunday, November 16, 2008

MAGIC 6

My circle of friends in high school had a get-together last night, which lasted until 3 this morning. The last time all six of us were together was during my wedding two years ago.


Unlike previous meetings when one or two of us would be really late, we all arrived just in time when the clock ticked 7. Again, we were at our favorite local coffee place, Barista.



It's been 14 years since we graduated from high school yet things seem to be just the same. There are some changes though of course, from the looks to outlooks in life. Four of us are moms already and they live life with utmost carefulness to make sure they can give the best for their kids. And coming from diffferent fields of work -- two are accountants, one is a pediatrician, one is a nurse, one is in advertising, and I am from the field of information technology, we never ran out of topics to talk about. It's great to share what we normally do during our busy work days and learn new things at the same time. Like what I always say, being with your real friends is like a breath of fresh air... a time and place to be just yourself, with people who know you inside and out.


Faye, Oneng, Jannie, Myself, Kai, Lisette

Friday, November 14, 2008

POQUI!

This is my post after two days of not being able to report to work due to some "i'm not feeling well" reasons. And this is also my very first post using my newest buddy - POQUI! One of the Compaq Presario series. :)

Yes, I already received the anniversary gift that Husband promised to give me. I am sooo excited... I wanna load it with stuffs that both Husband and I will enjoy. But I have yet to get that badminton bag he is wishing to receive from me...

Until my next post... it's past breaktime now.. self-control, rem'ber?


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

cross stitch... cross stitch... cross stitch...

This morning, a colleague and I went to a prospective partner school for a product presentation. The school is exclusively for girls. As we walk on the campus, I couldn't help but remember my grade school years (no, I didn't study in an exclusive school for girls, I just remembered my grade school life ^_^ ). It was such a fun!

And to my surprise, girls who seem to be at the 3rd grade are holding some familiar fabrics... yes, an Aida cloth. They are doing some cross stitch projects in school at an early age.

How I wish we had the same Home Arts projects during our time, maybe then I have cultivated the enthusiasm to do cross stitching early on in my young life. :)

Monday, November 10, 2008

the Crayola world

I was searching the Internet for some converter sites for my hexadecimal color codes (to RGB), and I have stumbled upon this very colorful post. Well, the post was not about what I was looking for, but I was fascinated with the different photos used in the page.

It reminded me of the time when I was so drawn to coloring books (yes, even when I was way over my grade school years) that I had my boxes of Crayola. Also, Sinta came to mind. Seeing her lovely watercolor illustrations makes me think that perhaps she's also in love with colors, vibrant or otherwise? :)

disciplining ME

I am consciously trying to make the effort of not spending too much time with my blogger account while in the office. Office time is for work; and blogging... should be done during break. :)

Self control, Jac... self control!


Sunday, November 9, 2008

6 Random Things That Make Me Happy

  • My Husband, who has decided to marry me the very moment he laid eyes on me again after 12 years of not seeing each other, who has loved me even more in spite of the countless arguments and misunderstandings, and who has always been striving harder to show how much he loves me and cares for me. He just thinks I don't appreciate it. You're wrong, Mahal (Love).

  • My family and my in-laws, who never fail to show they care even if we don't get to spend time with each other everyday.

  • The blogs I follow, which inspire me to tap the other side of me and motivates me to be more productive. And this leads me to the next thing on my list...

  • My tweety bird project. It's been more than 10 years now since I last had my cross stitch project. Tweety bird is my refresher project for this craft. I'm so excited to finish it and post a picture of it here. :)

  • Our Company Christmas Party. I am sooo looking forward to it. The games sound exciting!

  • Our second wedding anniversary on the 24th of this month. This is not just a mark of our two years of marriage but also a chance to receive a new laptop! :) I'll let you know once I have it.. *so excited*

I was tagged by Sinta, now I'm tagging Angeli, Jec, Aims, and Caryn.


Friday, November 7, 2008

my tweety bird

Last night, in spite of Husband's objection, I started with my cross stitch project while watching TV. I just felt that if I really wanted to take on this simple craft (as simple as my current pattern is), I have to set aside even half an hour of my time (as suggested by Angeli) to work on it. I was not thinking of finishing the whole pattern of course! I just wanted to start a couple of stitches.

Since the threads I have for the project are already pre-cut, I only did the stitches until the strands in my needle have all been used up. The ouput, you asked? Four rows of around 10 cross stitches each. :)

Still a long way to go...

TGIF!

Thank God it's Friday!

Husband and I will be spending the weekend at our place in DasmariƱas, Cavite. I'm sure that our stay will be treats of Mama's cooking and badminton games with my brother Jim. I can also have my late night chats with my Kuya and his lovely wife and hyper-active kids who are now staying in New Jersey.

And speaking of my Kuya, we are all excited and can't wait to see the new addition to his family, Adrianne. Baby Andie, as she will be called, is due to see the wonderful world in January next year. We are all looking forward to seeing her first pictures. With big brothers who are so adorable, I am sure that Baby Andie will be equally adorable too! She will definitely be one cute little princess. :)

Thursday, November 6, 2008

i should cook

Eating is something Husband and I really enjoying doing together. Be it dining out, or feasting on food prepared at our very own kitchen, as long as it is good, we will enjoy as much.

But last night was different...

Wanting to eat as soon as we get home from office, I just instructed our Angel (household helper) to do the cooking. She would just fry the chicken that she marinated the day before anyway. But to my disappointment the fried chicken I was so looking forward to at dinner tasted so bland. I know I should be grateful that we have food to eat, but that's exactly my point... we should make the most out of our available supply and not waste it by cooking tastelessly, after all it is not that hard to prepare a savoury fried chicken!

It is frustrating to know that I cannot delegate our Angel to prepare even the simplest of meals... I just thought that with her around I can simply pass on my recipes to her and she can prepare it the way I could. But then, just like what I always tell myself "If you want things done, do it yourself." But hey! What is the word delegation for then??? Well, maybe not for cooking. And come to think of it, Husband enjoys more when I'm the one preparing his meal. So as agreed upon, I will still be the one to cook for us.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Tuesday night treat

Last night, Husband and I went to the mall for a movie treat. We needed some relaxation and we thought that watching a comedy film would be great. Besides, we haven't gone to the movies for quite some time now. There was none but one comedy film on show, The House Bunny. So to The House Bunny we went! :) The movie was fun and very light. We needed not to stress ourselves to follow the story. After all, the plot was so simple, yet it has left a very good message for the girls who are not confident with themselves, and who do not know how to interact with the opposite sex.

After the movie, we had dinner. I didn't realize that I made husband think why in the world I ordered for a vanilla icecream. Not that I don't eat icecream, it's just that I don't usually have dessert immediately after the main course. The dinner was a feast of our all-time favorites at the Max's.

And since I have been bugging Husband about some crafts I'd like to take on for the longest time now, we dropped by the Craft World and bought a simple pattern for my refresher cross-stitch project. Husband suggested that I choose a small, not-so-complicated pattern just so I could brush up on my cross stitching skills first, and try on more complicated designs after I finished the first one. Good enough!

And so for my trial project, I'm doing this 60 X 60 stitch design:




SS card

At last, after (10 days short of) one year, my Social Security Card has arrived! I have additional ID card to prove my identity.

I requested for my card replacement last year because of a change in name... something I needed to do after getting married. :)

Monday, November 3, 2008

she is in total despair...


She is losing her heart... and she cannot seem to hold it back. She cannot get over the thought that once in their happy lives he has broken her heart... and time cannot seem to put the pieces back.

i can't write...


Always, and I mean ALWAYS, when I log on to my blogger account to post a new entry, I would end up reading the latest posts on the blogs I follow. It keeps me glued on the writings not just reading the latest ones, but clicking randomly on the tags. Two of my favorites are that of knittering and muffled solitude. And so, frequently, I just stay there reading and not writing anything. :)