Charice’s version of the Philippine National Anthem

Wow, this girl can really sing! And, of all the versions of the Philippine National Anthem I have heard sung by divas, divos, feeling divas, feeling divos and the like… I think Charice Pempengco’s version is the closest to how the original composer and arranger wanted it to sound which is like a march.

Oprah Winfrey and David Foster ought to really be proud of their protege. Thumbs up, Charice!

Of Second Chances and Not Taking Any Chances…

Victim # 1

Victim # 2

VICTIM # 3

THE CULPRIT… THAT DUMPTRUCK ON THE UPPER LEFT SIDE OF THE PICTURE

Just by looking at the pictures alone, are you able to picture the level of uncertainty there is to life on this earth?

One Sunday you could be on your way home after going on a simple errand… you decide to ride a taxicab and sit beside the driver… on the way home you start to pleasantly converse with the driver about how rude other “professional” drivers can be… then you came to the foot of a narrow street where your driver decided to wait for a dumptruck to pass so that your cab can make the turn and you would be on your way home… then WHAM!!!

You suddenly realize the cab you were riding was hit by the wayward dumptruck… then WHAM again!!! The same dumptruck hits a bus that in turn hit a motorcycle and sent its rider flying into the air.

Chaos and a massive traffic jam then ensues as slivers of broken glass and other car parts pepper the busy Quirino Highway.

Fortunately for you, you escaped unscathed. 

But what if something did happen and it was the passenger side of the cab that got hit? Surely, none of the three victims were expecting to be part of that big accident that caused quite a commotion.

How confident are you that your family will be well taken care of if something does happen to you? 

Be a blessing to your loved ones, not a burden. No loose ends should be left untied.

By the way, my husband was the one sitting on the passenger side of that cab. 

Sad, Sad, Sad… Paypal Transactions have been disabled by oDesk

I don’t know what their issue is but oDesk has disabled withdrawals to Paypal since this morning, and even their customer support does not know when it will be resumed. All the customer support guy kept telling me is that oDesk and Paypal are bound to resolve the issue soon because the former knows how crucial the situation is for providers relying solely on the latter to get their earnings to their respective local bank accounts.

Just the same, I thought of enrolling another payment method using Moneybookers but my account will not be ready to recceive payments until after it has been activated on June 10.

God, I pray oDesk and Paypal come to their senses soon because it is the providers who are at the losing end. Money delayed is money denied. Bills and expenses will not wait around for an oDesk provider’s earnings to be available.    

Last Will and Testament…

It is against traditional Filipino culture to even talk about death, much less discuss the need for a Last Will and Testament. To do so is considered by most Filipinos to be like wishing someone ill or praying that the person die soon enough so those left behind can partake of the inheritance immediately. It is this backward thinking that has kept a lot of families feuding over even the smallest piece of property simply because no one was legally vested with the right to make a claim.

My mother’s family is one of those families. It has been more than five years since my grandparents passed away but they have yet to judicially or extra-judicially partition that small piece of land that my grandparents’ house sits on. The problem is my grandparents left behind 5 kids… all are now married with their own families, and even some of their children, us “Apos”, have also gotten married.

The eldest of the 5 children is pushing 65, my mother who came in next will be 62 this year, and the youngest is 44. When the older ones pass on, who will have the right to claim their share? Their families, of course.

Have you heard of the saying, “too many cooks spoil the soup”?

Like any other family, we have diverging opinions on a lot of things. To say that not all of us ”see eye to eye” is an understatement, so how do you think discussions on the division of a small piece of property will go?

If only my grandparents had a Last Will and Testament… or if only my mother and her siblings will settle the issue by extra-judicially partitioning the property while all five of them are still alive… but no one wants to budge. No one even wants to talk about the most mutually beneficial way to go about it.  

All five are so stubborn no one even wants to be the first to shell out cash to have the property surveyed and subdivided equally… lahat gusto makalamang (get the better of) by benefitting from the efforts of another… hoping to get their share without spending a dime.

My family’s story is just one of many. If this doesn’t get you to re-think your position about the need for a Last Will and Testament, look up the story of a more influential family fighting over the custody of an aging matriarch… not out of love and genuine concern but out of fear that a sibling will find a way to make the old lady sign a piece of paper that will end everybody else’s claim to the estate. Such a sorry excuse for a family.

Good thing I only have one child. He would not have to fight with anyone for whatever junk I will be leaving behind. This early, I am making sure that all I have will go to nobody but him. A few months after I gave birth I made the rounds of my insurance companies to change the name of my beneficiary from my mother to my son. Plus, I also plan to convince my husband to transfer the ownership of our house and lot to our son as soon as it is legally permitted. I read somewhere that a lawyer and his wife have already done the same with their kids as young as twelve years old, giving them each a house and lot. So, I think it is something we really can do. For all other stuff, I’ll have it on my Last Will and Testament. 

While your thinking about how to draft your Last Will and Testament, go a step further and get yourself insured… list down the names of only those you want to benefit from the proceeds. I say leave nothing to chance.

Be a blessing to your loved ones, not a burden. No loose ends should be left untied.

Do you ever regret having a kid?

Mother’s day was last week, but it was only the other day when I read a Mother’s Day article in our newspaper’s Sunday magazine about couples opting not to have children and how that choice is often frowned upon in our society.

As a matter of fact, I used to grill a college friend about her choice not to have even just one kid. If I remember right, she got married shortly after graduation and we never knew she had no intention of ever having kids… not after a couple of years rolled by and I have summoned enough guts to ask her if she had consulted an OB-gynecologist.

I guess it just goes to show how I am one of those who think that it is the natural order of things to have a kid soon after getting married.

I, on the other hand, have always wanted to have kids, I even went to take fertility pills when I did not get pregnant a year or two after I got married (I got married at the “old” age of 32).

You can say my opinion on whether to have kids or not  wavered now that I finally have a kid. There were days when I even told my husband I regretted having a kid… these were days when my son would be his most uncooperative, super hard-headed and just plain unruly and uncontrollable. In other words, days when he’s being a kid to the hilt.

It just gets so tiring and time-consuming to attend to a kid, especially my son. Some parents might hate me for saying this, but I’d like to meet a parent who did not feel ovewhelmed by the responsibility of raising a kid… and I’d like to know if she really did it all by herself.

Moreover, while it is true what they say that your kids can be your greatest inspiration for working hard, it does not belie the fact that when you have kids you definitely have to work hard. It is just a given, otherwise you will not be able to provide all you have envisioned for them… good education, nutritious food, sufficient clothing and a decent shelter.

It is just a never-ending series of responsibilities, struggles, temper flare-ups and everything else associated with having and raising a child into this world — all equally overwhelming and very tiring.

Also, when you have a kid (or worse, kids. Hehehe.) your personal time, space and joys will be non-existent. Unless, of course, if you have the capability to hire and pay someone else to take care of them for you. 

If you are the one taking care of your kid, then expect to have no time or money to primp and prettify, shop to your heart’s content and have private time with dad… this is especially true if your kid is 2-3 years old and is quite attached to you.

On the one hand, “attachment” is quite nice to cultivate in your kid because you get to enjoy their attention when they are more than willing to give it to you. When they reach their teens, you will mean practically nothing to them and they might not want to have anything to do with you, so better cherish and enjoy the moment. I may be over generalizing, but I know a lot of parents who swear this is true… or maybe they just did not let their children be attached to them while growing up so the kids grew distant thinking it was how their parents wanted their relationship to be?

The thing is whether or not there are times when I regret having a kid, actually having my son just makes me want to do the best I can… give him the best I can.

The fact remains that he is here, he’s been in my life for the past 2 years, 4 months and 3 days. And, even though I no longer have the time nor the energy to live my life the way I was living it prior to his arrival, I sure would like to make sure I get to spend the rest of my days molding him to be the clearest reflection of how hard I tried to raise him well and provide him with the best I could given my circumstances and limited resources.

After all, life should not have any room for regrets, especially when you have kids. Children were given by God to make you realize that whatever you have lost in terms of time, personal space or shopping money you have gained a million fold in love — your child’s unconditional love for you.

Every time my son says, “I love you, Mommy”  all is forgiven and everything starts to feel alright. Time to move forward and think ahead.

Have you thought ahead? Have you gotten yourself insured? If you want the peace of mind that your kid or anyone you will be leaving behind is well taken care of… get insurance.

My new Terracotta Warriors

I fell in love with these terracotta warriors the very first time I saw them in Real Living magazine. From then on I have searched everywhere just to find a reasonably prized set. I even thought I would have to go to China just to get them.

Well, we were planning to bring our kid to Disneyland Hong Kong in the next 2-3 years… so I thought I could make a side trip to China. That’s how much I wanted to get them.

Finally, I was able to buy all five pieces for just P900.00 last Saturday. You can’t imagine my surprise when I was told that it’s only P900 for the whole set of 5 pieces… and mind you, it’s not the miniature variety either.

God Whispers

If only for these daily reminders I can say my Truly Rich Club membership fee has been worth it.

During times of spiritual dearth brought about by problems, struggles, emotional suffering… these simple reminders serve to re-assure me that God is still always by my side. To me that’s the most important gift that the Truly Rich Club of Bo Sanchez has given me… renewed faith, resurrected hope, unending reassurance that God IS there loving me unconditionally even though at times I cannot feel His presence.

My faith has always been there, but hardships, pain, sorrow and every other bad thing that I encountered in life has made my faith waver a lot of times. I would doubt, I would question, I would be angry at God but in the end, like any other daughter who had encountered a rough patch… or has had a misunderstanding with her father, I would go back and seek my father’s love and approval again.

I was having my “usual” misunderstanding with my Father, when I came across Bo Sanchez’ website again, and I would like to think it was my Father’s way of reaching out to me and showing me a way out of my “dearth”. So I signed up and never looked back.

If only for these reminders of God’s love that I receive everyday, I can say it has definitely been worth it. Why don’t you try and experience everyday miracles for yourself?

We are the World - YouTube Edition

I don’t know if you’ve seen this video because I don’t know how popular it has become. But you should definitely see if especially if you’ve seen the “official” remake of the original.

I don’t know about you but it sent shivers up my spine! These people make singing seem so effortless yet so heartfelt that I could not stop myself from singing along just to feel all their emotions.

Personally, I think this is much better than the official version… subdued yet powerful. And did you see the singers… some are like just singing in front of their computer’s microphone, no acoustics or sounding boards whatsoever to enhance their voices and yet they managed to sound great! 

Why these people did not join or didn’t get picked for American Idol season 9 escapes me. If they were, maybe the show would have been much more exciting.  

Thank God for HMO

I used to be just a stay-at-home mom. “Used to be” because I am now more of a work-at-home mom, what with all the freelance writing jobs I’ve been dabbling into again to augment our income. Yes, there was a time when it all got to me and I decided to be just a stay-at-home mom. If you have been following my posts, I’m sure I don’t have to explain much.

Although in reality being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t really mean I’m not working, I think mothers out there will totally agree with me when I dare say that being a work-at-home mom “doubles” the workload because not only am I working for the upkeep of our home and our family, I’m also logging in either late nights or early mornings to bring in some cash to our joint bank account.

What am I driving at with all this rattling off? Simple, the need to be prepared. I went back to being a work-at-home mom because I suddenly realized how financially unprepared I was.

When I was gainfully employed, receiving my salary bi-monthly, I also had group life insurance, HMO coverage, plus government mandated benefits that extended to my immediate family. On my own I decided to get a life insurance, a memorial plan and another life insurance (yes, you read it right, I have 2 life insurances). You could say I had everything covered.

But nothing could prepare me for the unexpected medical expenses my son incurred recently. I was a plain a stay-at-home mom back then when we got the prognosis. I didn’t have a penny to my name and no benefits to extend to my immediate family either. That’s the downside of working freelance. Although I can choose to pay for all these government-mandated benefits on my own, but you and I know a lot won’t do that.

So I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to do. The HMO guidebook my husband brought home said it won’t cover congenital diseases and every website on the internet declared my son’s condition as congenital and that he needed surgery.

Trying to find whatever else can be done, I was fortunate to have spoken with my husband’s officemate about the possibility of getting their HMO to cover even a small amount of what we otherwise would have to pay for by ourselves.

I took her advice and brought our son to an HMO-accredited hospital to see an HMO-accredited doctor. And you could say the rest is history.

The bottom line is, were it not for my husband’s HMO I would probably be out begging for my son’s operation. Yes, I’m that destitute.

That is why my advice to all of you, fathers, mothers, stay-at-home or work-at-home, is to prepare for these unexpected occurrences. Save… make sure you have a substantial amount in your savings account and better yet, get some insurance, be it life or medical insurance because you will never know when you or your family will need it.

Wherever you are in the world, there are insurance agents, insurance brokers who can draw up a mutually beneficial agreement to give you the peace of mind you deserve. You don’t have to go through a medical emergency alone. HMOs and insurances are there to see you through. You just have to find the right one.

They say experience is the best teacher, but would you rather go through a financial crisis or a medical emergency of your own if you can simply read about it from someone who has experienced it firsthand? Sharing my life’s lessons with others so they too can learn… that is what this blog is all about.

Bo Sanchez and his ministry

I’ve always liked Bo Sanchez. I have his books, probably not all of them, but I can say I have most of them, some even personally authographed by him.

I like the way he “simplifies” things and how he does not do an overkill when preaching. He reaches out to you with stories that you can relate to, anecdotes you can identify with. He is no Dingdong Dantes but he has won me over. I have his website in my favorites list and during times of spiritual dearth I click on it to “reach out” to him, hoping that he has God’s answers to my prayers.

I am by no means a blind follower, I can easily spot a phony preacher a mile away, but Bo Sanchez makes a lot of sense to me and I’m willing to give anything he says will work a try.

Let’s all try this and by God’s grace, hope that we too can experience a financial miracle.

http://bosanchezmembers.com/amember/go.php?r=7656

Friends true and through…

When you suddenly find yourself faced with seemingly insurmountable problems you can’t help but feel lost and all alone. You start to take stock of all that you have and if this proves to be not enough, you start to think about who you can probably ask help from.

My son was diagnosed with a congenital “defect” (and for this reason the hmo won’t cover it) that needed surgery as soon as possible… or it would probably be more accurate to say, “as soon as you have the money”. The problem is we didn’t have the money… I don’t have 75,000 pesos, heck I don’t even have 5,000 pesos in my bank account. I will have around 11,000 from my oDesk writing jobs, but the last time I checked that money won’t materialize until March 3.

And all this time my son is in pain… he is not in unbearable pain I suppose because he is still the energizer bunny that he usually is, but he would often tell me that the part that needed surgery on is painful… and he would ask that I rub some liniment on it every now and then. If you were in my place, wouldn’t your heart have already melted?

I waited for this child all my life. I have actually given up wishing to have a child when a round of fertility efforts failed… and that was when he came… nothing short of a miracle I dare say because I was already pushing 35.

Now here he is… in pain and needing surgery… and we didn’t have the money to get him the first surgeon available at the soonest possible time. I was desperate and distraught that I thought of texting his godparents to ask them to “advance” five years-worth of Christmas and birthday gifts. By the way, I didn’t just toy with the idea… I really did text them… at least those who are really close friends of mine.

Out of several, only three responded… one belatedly responded but at least he responded just the same… offering not just monetary help but help in finding other surgeons who could do the operation for a lot less.

A godmother almost instantaneously called me up after receiving my text message to offer solace and promise to track down a former officemate who had an uncle who is a surgeon. She said he might not be the pedia-surgeon my son needed but just the same he is sure to have some connections we could use. She didn’t stop there… she got in touch with friends and friends of friends to see what kind of connections they have in the medical world. If that is not true friendship, then I don’t know what is.

Then there is this one particular friend, (who was not even a godmother to my son) with whom I stayed in communication with only through IM and despite being a stay-at-home-mom herself (read: having no income of her own) immediately asked me for my bank account so she could send me some money for my son’s operation. I was sooo touched by her gesture.

The godfather (though he’d really rather be a godmother) who took a few days to remember to reply, promised to help out in whatever way he can and to even ask his officemates (who were former teammates of mine) to help out as well.

There is also this former co-agent, who probably has more problems than I do and whose child also needs medical attention quite often, who never fails to empathize with me and my plight as a stay-at-home mom trying to eck out a few extra bucks. She probably also has a lot of money problems nowadays (aside from motherhood that’s one topic we never fail to talk about whenever we get to chat through IM) but she has unselfishly offered to help with whatever amount she could pitch in.

And of course, there is Momi Yoki, another former officemate who pointed me to the right direction… by telling me to make the hmo coordinator my first pit-stop before making my way to finding the specialist that I needed and could afford (since my son’s case is congenital, the hmo will not cover it in full, but only to the extent of 20,000). What touched me the most is that she went out of her way (she has her own brood to attend to, it being a Sunday) to call the hospital to get the pediatricians’ schedules. She even went the extra mile and called the hmo to confirm that my son’s treatment will be covered up to the maximum amount of 20,000 pesos. Prior to her call to the hmo, I was convinced that we would have to raise the money needed all by ourselves because it is explicitly stated in the hmo guidebook that congenital illnesses will not be covered. Boy, what a relief I felt when I found out that our problem was lessened by at least 20,000 pesos, give or take the semi-private room that was also included.

That to me is what real friendship is all about… especially when the one banking on the friendship has nothing to offer in exchange or in return aside from the “friendship” itself.

It’s not the amount, it’s not the time it took to respond, but it’s the gesture… it’s the genuine concern these people showed to me in my hours of great need and desperation. It’s the “being there when they were needed the most” that really struck a cord in my heart… and for this I say thank you to Maricel, to Cheechang, to Martin, to Lucky and to Momi Yoki. I might not have any money or position nor the influence to “incubate” the friendship I have with you, but you have stayed on… true and through it all.

P.S.

Thank you also to Ace for recalling that Momi Yoki once had the same predicament and telling me that I should consult with her.

Finally, an end to my Bayantel miseries!

Success!!! I finally saw the end of my Bayantel DSL miseries. The Bayantel technician, Dan, just left about five minutes ago… and he didn’t leave without providing a resolution to my DSL woes.

When he called their office to request for a test port or something, he was told that there’s already an instruction to transfer me from Shelf 2 to Shelf 3. I didn’t understand much of their conversation because it was laced in DSL jargon, so when I asked Dan to “translate”, he told me that the cause of my slow DSL speed is the congestion in the shelf where my connection was in. He also said that the new DSL wired customers are already on Digi40 while mine is still in E1… Na-E1 (Naiwan… left behind with the old configuration)?

What’s more, Dan said no amount of reconfiguration, modem resetting, speed tests, ping tests and trace route tests will change my speed because of the shelf congestion and the fact that I was still in E1 (I really didn’t understand what E1 is but I think it’s the archaic DSL connection of Bayantel).

So there… after several email exchanges they finally sent the guy who was able to resolve my problem. 

What I don’t know is for how long this “honeymoon” period will last or  if I’m going to have to ask to be transferred to a new shelf every month.

I’ve had this DSL connection for almost a year with my contract ending on March 26, 2010. Prior to this episode I was already thinking of getting one of those thumb-drive DSL connectors because of the portability it offers. I was actually going through the motions of reading several reviews about Globe Tattoo. Now that my DSL got faster, I guess I’ll really have to give it until March 26.   

I have tried Smart Bro prepaid but ended up giving it to my mother because it did not give me the speed Mo twister said it would give.

Based on my postpaid connection with Sun cellullar which only registers 1 bar (sometimes I don’t even have a signal) inside our house, I will not try Sun Broadband. I couldn’t even hear or understand what my husband is saying when he calls me using his own Sun postpaid line… how much better can I expect Sun broadband to be?

Globe Tattoo… I’d like to try it because I often (it’s not always) get a full 3 signal bars of 3G even in our bedroom. Other than that and the convenience, I don’t think I’m going to get a lot out of it as far as speed and consistency is concerned. Oh, but I like the soft phone feature, too. 

Can someone lend me a Globe Tattoo so I won’t have to spend another P895 on it?

Love to love…

It’s almost Valentine’s day so I’m begging for your indulgence because I think I’m about to become ”cheesy” . 

After all, if you’re looking for true love… love that transcends time, distance and even logic (ask Marlene Aguilar )… love that knows no boundaries… love that does not look at color, weight, size or any outwardly appearance… look at how a mother loves her child… unconditional, unwavering, inexplainable. 

I saw a billboard along EDSA once, and it said, “When a child is born, so is a mother.” Oh, I agree! Once a woman becomes a mother her whole life changes… in a really major way!

But apart from giving birth, there is really more to “motherhood”. I gave birth to this boy 2 years ago…

Here he is now… all grown up and looking like a “little” man.

How fast two years flew… but I feel like I’ve only been a “mother” for 10 months… a real mother… a fulltime mom. I have since rid myself of my dependence on a yaya (nanny) since April of last year and boy, has it been a gruelling 10 months since! I feel like I’ve added 10 quick years to my age! I cook, I clean, I do the laundry, I take care of my son, I write and do everything else that needs to be done around the house in between… There is just no rest for the wicked… or more appropriately, ‘there’s just no rest for a work-at-home mom like me”!

But look at my little man… I had to fold and sew his barong and pants because they were a bit long and he looked lost in them. A few days prior to the wedding where he was the ring-bearer I cut his hair. I also cut his nails, give him baths, pick up and clean after him, feed him and teach him his ABCs and 123s. Boy, am I dog-tired after!

But look at him… look at my little man. Quite a fine-looking young boy isn’t he?   

Living the Life You Love and Loving the Life You Live…

“Living the life you love and loving the life you live” is actually a tagline of a local show here in the Philippines. Hearing it for the first time made me ask myself if “I am living the life I love or at least loving the life I’m living”.

 My answer: YES and NO… depending on my mood… depending on the events of the day… depending on whether or not I was able to do what I wanted to do or go to where I wanted to go.

There are times when I sorely regret having decided to quit my job and just be a fulltime houseMAID… errr houseWIFE. There are times when I wish I can just turn back the hands of time and re-do a lot things I did in the past. Yes, regrets… I sometimes have one too many.

Why? Because I’m used to getting and having my way… I’m used to being “spoiled”… I’m used to earning my own money and being able to buy anything I can afford or at least save up for in a few months time. I’m used to dressing up and going to work… figuring out which shoes and bag go with what outfit…

Bottomline is I’m just so used to being my own person… doing my own thing when I want to. having transitioned to a fulltime home-maker has changed all that. I know that I’m not supposed to “lose myself” just because I got married and had a kid, but ask any mother out there and surely she’d choose her family’s welfare over her own “enjoyment” if made to choose just one.

I could easily choose to pamper myself, be “irresponsible” and live the way I did prior to having a family of my own… sure, that can be done… but unless you become a wife… a mother… you will never understand the choices mothers sometimes need to make to keep their families and their own sanity together.

So, going back to the question…am I living the life I love? No.

For one, I have always wanted a life filled with adventure and travels, shopping sprees, oodles and oodles of money, great food, fun people and enriching experiences. I know that’s the kind of life I’d certainly want to live if I can have it my way.

BUT… am I loving the life I’m living? Well, I’m trying too. On some days I can even answer that question with a resounding “YES”… yup, in all caps even!

When I see my son growing up to be the kid I have always imagined I would have, that’s definitely  a “YES” moment. When I am able to provide a well-thought of meal for my family that my son says, “Rap!” (Sarap) to, that’s another “YES” moment for me. When I see our house uncluttered and clean… that’s another “YES” moment for me. When I get our electric bill and I see our consumption going down… another “YES”!

What does all these boil down to? Answer: Being able to manage our life well. This was something I never had time to do when I was working and depending on a “yaya” to run my household and raise my kid.

Do I still regret leaving my good ol’ bi-monthly paying job? Sometimes… especially when it’s sale season.

My new number…

I have recently gotten a new cellphone number (and a new cellphone to boot)… it’s 0922-8485471.

Oh my… oh me, oh my…

Wow, it’s been ages since I’ve been to my own blog! I have not written a single post since time immemorial and I want to kick myself on the head for it.

It’s just I’ve been going all crazy fixing up our house… arranging our furniture… re-arranging what I have previously arranged… re-arranging what I have re-arranged (I’m sure you get the picture)… de-cluttering, organizing, sorting out stuff… basically (and to cut the long story short), I have been doing almost everything I never had time to do when I was working the graveyard shift. I just wish I could throw in some shopping sprees, massages, beautification rituals and other relaxing activities into the mix. God knows I have not been able to do those things for quite some time now, although I have been going to Dapitan and other homestores for decors and other home “necessities”. Oh well, I’m sure you know what kind of shopping spree I was talking about… read: shopping or stuff FOR GOOD OL’ ME!

Anyway, aside from being a trying-hard interior decorator, I have also been a full-time houseMAID… errr housewife. I have sent our good-for-nothing househelp packing and I have been taking on househelp duties for about six months now. Boy, am I dog-tired everyday! You see, I have a preferred way of doing things and striving to meet my own set of standards when it comes to doing the laundry, cooking, taking care of my kid and keeping the house spic and span really drains me. There is really just no rest for the wicked! 

Bottomline is things have got to change! I have to conscientiously devote some time to my online activities like selling and freelance writing… and that should include updating this blog. After all, I sometimes use this to showcase my writing skills to supplement my sample articles and rewrites.

So here I go again… I will try my darnest to update this blog more often (fingers and toes crossed!).  

I’m on top of the (Google) World!!!

I just thought I’d see how this blog ranks in Google’s search result pages… lo and behold… 

I’M ON TOP!!! I must be doing something right, huh?

Thank you, Lord! Now, if You can just translate this into thousands of dollars or millions of pesos, that would really make me feel like I’M ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!! 

(calling all web advertisers and publishers… your ads are welcome here!) 

Purchased out of Earnings from What I’ve been up to

These things are not a lot nor are they big ticket items that deserve being displayed in public. It’s just that I’m happy to have acquired these things off the sweat of my brows. I’m a stay-at-home Mom and to be able to earn and buy a few things is an achievement for me, not really a big achievement for others, but to me it’s an achievement nonetheless.

Nope, not quite the real thing, it’s actually just an iphone clone with an authentic-looking iphone case. Still a touchscreen phone without having to cost an arm and a leg.

I was also finally able to replace a ten-year old plyboard bedframe out of my freelance writing earnings and I even bought myself a new computer chair to replace the old stool I was hunching over to do my assignments.

Again, I know these items are not much. I used to be employed as a junior supervisor and was used to earning more than enough to spend 3 or 4 times more to buy ”better” items. But back then, it just didn’t felt like an accomplishment as it does now.

Maybe it’s because not having a lot of money makes one more appreciative of the things that can be bought with whatever little money he or she has.

Yeah, I really think that’s it because I’ve never appreciated 25-cents or 1 peso coin more than I do now. 

What I’ve been up to

I’ve been so very busy completing writing assignments on oDesk and also trying my hand at a lot of things, but hopefully, I’ll be able to post more in the coming days as I venture into online selling, bazaar selling and a lot more. Thank you to all those who still visited this blog despite not having anything new to read.

 This is what I’ve been up to in the past weeks…

So if you know of anyone, a pulitiko needing a speech writer or a website owner needing SEO content, please do let me know. My rates are affordable and best of all they are negotiable. hehehe.

Life-enhancing jobs

I was watching “The Sweet Life” of Wilma Doesnt and Lucy Torres-Gomez and though I was not able to catch the start of the show I was able to tune in to their discussion on life-enhancing jobs.

Among their guests are a travel photographer, a blogger / product reviewer, a web and graphics designer and an online seller plus of course an “expert” who if I’m not mistaken is a psychologist or probably an HR practioner. He did say he was connected with “One School”, yep that’s the name of the organization. He said they offer courses that help people find their calling, their “life-enhancing job”.

So what exactly is a life-enhancing job? According to this expert, the trend nowadays is for people to look for jobs not based on compensation alone but on passion. He said that although compensation is of course important, given the economic crisis (was there ever a time when the Philippines was not in crisis? seriously people, was there ever?) it is no longer the end-all and be-all of working and holding on to a job. People are now looking for jobs that they are passionate about, jobs that they enjoy doing, jobs that broaden their horizons or jobs that enrich them as a person.

The travel photographer said that his love for photography has generated a lot of jobs for him. The blogger / product reviewer said he is earning more now with his blogging than before. Aside from getting paid by advertisers on his site, companies constantly send him product freebies for him to test out and write about.

I was in the corporate world for 15 years. I worked for both the government and the private sector but until my last job as a technical sales professional I have not quite found what I was looking for in terms of job satisfaction.

I did love my stint with the government, that’s why I stayed there for 10 years, but something was still missing. I made the jump onto the callcenter bandwagon and stayed there for three years, but still there was a void in me. Sure, I was happy when I made a sale (actually I always made sales), when I receive commendations, when I get responsive emails from my clients but it was not enough.

Aside from the fact that I did not move up the callcenter ladder as fast as I imagined I would, given my credentials, skills, work experience and impeccable English communication skills, the truth is I was not happy where I am. Working at night zaps the life out of me, literally. I really had to drag myself out of our bed and into our car just to go to work. If I had to take the bus or even the MRT, all the more I probably would have dreaded going to work.

So I made the jump off as quickly as I could. I felt I was turning to be a wicked witch by staying on that job. I was always cranky, I quickly blew my fuse everytime, my tongue was sharper than ever and all I could see were the bad things that were happening around me. To say that I hated the world would be the understatement of the century! And because I was not happy, I made other people unhappy with me and I couldn’t care less. A classic example would be my husband. He was always at the receiving end of my sharp tongue and my temper flare-ups.

Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t turn into a saint overnight even after I have resigned. I still have my temper but unlike before it does not show its ugly head at even the slighest provocation anymore. I have also “re-learned” how to smile and to take life as it comes. I now even have the time to just sit idly by as I watch Barney with my son.

Best of all, I’m just here at home but I still manage to get these.

The amount I got for these writing jobs is peanuts compared to what I was getting before as a salaried employee. But hey, I’m just starting out. The bottomline is a good reputation gets more projects and better pay. Besides, if I can say at home to watch my kid grow and mold him to be the best that he can be AND still earn on the side, woudn’t that be the Sweet Life in itself?