Pagod ngayon, Masaya mamaya, Pagod ulit bukas!
Ilang araw din akong liban dito. Pinipilit ko ang sarili ko na kahit papaano ay makipagpalitan ng komento subalit natatalo ako ng kawalang gana.
Pero sa totoo lang, hindi lang sa ganitong bagay nawala ang interes ko nitong mga nakaraang bagay. Wari baga ay ramdam na ramdam ko ang aking pagod. Nakakapagod din pala pagsabayin ang trabaho at responsibilidad sa bahay bilang isang ina at ilaw ng tahanan.
Sinusubukan kong labanan yung pagod pero natatalo akong madalas.
Minsan, yung utak ko gusto pang kumilos, gusto pang linisin ang mga kalat, gusto pang maglaba, pero yung katawan ko ramdam na ang pagod. Kaya naman madalas, gumagawa nalang ako ng paraan para iwasang tingnan ang mga kalat sa aming buong kabahayan.
Kaso, madalas, nangingibabaw ang kagustuhan ko na matuloh nang malinis ang kapaligiran. Kung kaya naman, kahit ang trabaho ko ay inaabot na ng madaling araw, nagagawa ko pa ding maglinis ng bahay pagkatapos na pagkatapos ng pasok ko. Hindi ko man nakuhanan ng litrato pero masasabi kong disaster ang palaging iniiwan ng mga anak ko na kalat bago sila magsitulugan. Mga kalat na masakit sa paningin ko kaya hindi ko talaga kayang tingnan at tiisin.
May mga oras na gusto kong mapag isa sapagkat pakiramdam ko, nasasakal na ako. Pakiramdam ko ay wala na talaga akong kalayaan. Wala nang kalayaan na gawin ang mga bagay na gusto kong gawin.
Sa mga oras na ito, kakatapos ko lang maglinis ng aming tahanan. At habang nakahiga ako at nagmumuni, bigla ko nalang naisipan na kunin ang aking selpon at isulat ang mga tumatakbo sa isip ko. Sa ganitong paraan, pakiramdam ko ay nailalabas ko kahit papaano ang bigat at pagod na nararamdaman ko.
Alam kong hindi lang ako ang dumadaan sa mga ganitong pagkakataon ng buhay. Dumadating siguro talaga sa atin na nakakaramdam tayo ng pagkapagod. Na gustuhin man nating tumigil, gustuhin man nating magbabad sa higaan, gustuhin man naying maglibang sa selpon o tv, hindi pupwede sapagkat kailangan nating kumilos para sa pamilyang tayo ang inaasahan.
Minsan nasasambit natin sa ating sarili "Ano, kaya pa self?". May minsan na ang sagot ay "Parang hindi na, pero kakayanin!". O kaya naman "parang susuko na, pero lalaban!".
Ganun lang talaga siguro ang takbo ng buhay natin. Hindi sa lahat ng pagkakataon ay puro sarap lang..darating talaga sa atin ang hirap..
Haaayyy!..pasensya na po kayo. Nagpapasalamat ako at may ganitong platform na malaya akong nakakapagsulat at nailalabas ang mga bagay na tumatakbo at gumugulo sa aking isipan. .
Divert! Divert! Divert! Tama na ang drama...
Ngayon ay kaarawan ng aking nag iisang anak na babae.
Ang kanyang hiling ay makapag overnight na ulit kami sa beach (Bernabeach). Gusto nya na ulitin namin yung famili outing na ginawa namin November last year kasi nag enjoy daw sya doon.
Throwback muna:
Kaya kahit alanganin kaming mag asawa na makakalusot kami sa mga checkpoints dahil nag umpisa nanaman ang paghihigpit, susubukan pa din namin na makatawid at mapagbigyan ang hiling ng aming anak mamaya.
Iniisip ko palang, dagdag pagod nanaman. Pero sa kabilang banda, priceless ang magiging kasiyahan ng aming anak kaya laban lang!. Eenjoyin nalang muna namin ang moment at saka na ulit iisipin at dadamdamin ang pagod..
Our First Family Bonding of the Year!
You might have read from my previous articles that I value the "Firsts" in my life. And hence, I will make this article which serves as my documentation about our first family bonding for this year (2022!).
My husband did not open our store last January first because he is anticipating that the people nearby might have a bunch of leftover food from the new year's eve celebration.
We all woke up a bit late. In fact, it's lunchtime already when I and the kids get up from our bed. After breakfast, or I would rather say, brunch (breakfast + lunch), we sit in front of our television and my husband started to find something interesting to watch. However, due to the loud music in our neighborhood (there's an ongoing birthday celebration), we cannot understand much what we're watching because the neighborhood noise is taking over our television volume :). But it's fine and we understand it completely because as I have said, there is an ongoing birthday celebration.
In short, we lost our interest to watch television so we've scrolled our phones instead. All of a sudden, my husband told me, let's go to Tagaytay!. Let's bring our leftover food and find a perfect spot to eat on the roadside!. I agreed immediately with his plan. So we started to fix ourselves (took a bath and wear decent clothes). We're already anticipating the temperature at our destination, hence my husband reminded me to bring our jackets. While I am preparing for some of our personal belongings like jackets, my youngest son's diaper, alcohol, wet wipes, and extra cloth for my toddler, my husband is busy downstairs packing our leftover foodies.
My kids are so excited when they learned that we're going to Tagaytay. All of a sudden, my cousin called my husband asking on what's our plan. And since they saw us almost ready to leave, my husband then asked them to join us. We will fetch them first (from Tanza Cavite) before we go to our destination (Twin Lakes Tagaytay).
So here are some of the glimpses of our first family bonding!
From the left is my daughter, my youngest son, my cousin's wife, and me (the groupie operator). If you'll look behind us, there are lots of fogs everywhere!. Can you imagine how cold it is from our spot.? The strong wind contributes to the cold weather as well.
My husband then asked me to have a photo of us together.
But then there's my little bodyguard who kept on pulling my bag and dragging me. He doesn't want me to have a solo picture with his "Papa".
And here is my toddler's solo photo. Can you imagine our struggle to take a decent one? hahaha!.
My three kids in front of the giant Christmas Tree!.
Finally, the little one is well behaved while we're taking them a good shot!. It's because of that bubble thingy we bought for $2. It's kinda expensive actually, but in exchange for his good mood, I have chosen to buy it :).
There are lots of pictures we have taken for our memory collections but I cannot share them all or else this article will get flooded with photos :).
Anyways, that's how we've spent the first day of 2022. We've spent it together enjoying the view of Twin Lakes Tagaytay. Despite the very cold weather, we still managed to have fun!.
How about you? How did you spend the first day of the year?
Sis @Jeansapphire39 salamuch sa pagtitiwala :)..
Thank you sa mga sponsors ko na patuloy na nagtitiwala..salamat @bloghound and @BCH_LOVER ...
The "Torotot" Story
How's your 2022 salubong everyone?...Well , our is not that good. Around afternoon of December 31st, while my kids are enjoying playing in front of our house, my toddler suddenly saw a kid with a torotot "horn". That caught his attention right away!
He went home and approached me immediately. I am in front of my desktop at that time because I have an ongoing shift.
Just sharing the below photo of him :). He is 3 years old, going 4 this coming March 8th.
He then told me that he wants to have a torotot.
So I immediately contacted my husband who is busy at our store by that moment and told him to buy a torotot when he goes home.
My husband immediately acknowledged it. I relayed the same information to my youngest son and he calmly went back into playing.
My husband went home early to find some torotot but unfortunately, my husband is not able to find any single torotot anymore. They are all sold out from all the nearby stores.
I then suggested my husband to go to another nearby place but we will accompany him so that there is someone who will look after the car while he is finding torotot from random stores.
Still, no available torotot anymore.
My toddler started to cry when he realized that he couldn't have a torotot.
He could not accept any explanation from me or even from my husband. He just kept on crying and crying. He cried more when he realized that we're going home already.
He repeatly shouted "ayoko uwi"..which means he doesn't want tl go home yet.
He throws a lot of tantrums. He cried a lot and it gets worst when we entered our house.
I then contacted my cousin who resides in the other city and asked them if there are still torotot in their place. Fortunately, there' still some. However it's already 9:00 PM around that time and my husband still has to grill the fish that he prepared. Hence, we are not able to go and fetch the torotot yet.
My son kept on crying until he fell asleep. I thought everything's fine and I thought he has forgotten it already.
But then after an hour nap, he woke up and cried right away, still because he really wants to have a torotot. Our house is filled with his loud cries.
It's too irritating and too painful to my ears already!
He cried a lot till the fireworks started to appear everywhere.
He got amazed by the colorful fireworks and he finally forgot about the "torotot".
When I noticed that he is in a good mood already, I asked him to go downstairs so we can eat our media noche.
After we ate, we go back upstairs to watch the fireworks. After that, he started to play. I then told myself "Thank God, at least our house becomes peaceful already".
Apologies for this boring article of mine today folks!.. My youngest son is currently latching while I am typing this using my cell phone. He is trying to find his sleep at the moment hence I suddenly got an idea to share our new year's "salubong" story.
Lead image source https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcf.shopee.ph%2Ffile%2Fc07c8e864e121bc0a5481630eadf8523&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fshopee.ph%2FThree-in-One-Trumpet-New-year-Horn-Torotot-Free-USB-LED-i.62661065.1741340920&tbnid=XMbMpXgtMQbYSM&vet=1&docid=hUNw03oexvRIeM&w=1024&h=1024&itg=1&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
Have a Prosperous and Healthy 2022 everyone!..I wish everyone's happiness and safety!...
New Addition to my "First Time" Collections
Who amongst you are collecting the memories of your "first times"? If you're like me then high five!.
"First times" for me can be considered as a remarkable milestone in my life hence I really give them importance.
I am sure you can still clearly recall who your first crush is, who your first boyfriend is, and who your first love is!.
It is well known to most of us that Club1BCH has facilitated lots of Christmas activities for the read.cash and noise.cash users.
But then aside from it, some of its individual members have chosen to facilitate their own event as well.
Their efforts made the platform alive and awakened the Christmas spirit especially here in read.cash.
If my memory is correct, I believe it was two days ago when I noticed a significant increase in my wallet. I immediately checked my notification to see the specific user who gave me a huge upvote. I am not sure it's not the Random Rewarder because it is too huge enough from Rusty's normal upvote value (per upvote).
And then I noticed that it was @bmjc98 who has gave a $3 upvote in my comment on one of her articles. At first, I thought it was not intentional because I've experienced such a thing before. One of the users accidentally upvoted my comment to her article, the amount she gave is $0.50. And maybe she realized it right away hence when she replied to my comment, she mentioned the accidental upvote. So what I did is I gave it back to her via upvote on the same article.
With that thought, I searched for @bmjc98 in read.cash and tried to browse her latest article. I am thinking to post a comment about the $3 upvote that I've received and if she confirms that it was not intended, I will give it back by upvoting her article back with $3.
Luckily, I bumped into her article entitled "My Christmas Events Are Officially Over Now!". That article of her summarizes the event that they have organized together with the winner for each of the events. https://read.cash/@bmjc98/my-christmas-events-are-officially-over-now-a979d7c6
I was startled when I saw my name. I cannot believe that I won!. Yes, you heard it right, I won!.
My name was luckily able to make it to the final 5 of the **Give Love - Give BCH on Christmas Day event and** hence was included in the final draw to identify who will receive the final $3.00 upvote.
I am really surprised that my name made it!
For my entire 13 years in the IT world, I never experienced winning in any raffle draws ever!.
Every Christmas season, I am very keen to attend Christmas Parties organized by my company for its employees. I make sure that I am physically present at the party because it is a common event policy that they will only give the prize if the person or employee is present physically in the party unless he or she has duty for that day. They will only excuse the employees from attending the party if they have a duty.
My yearly goal in each raffle draw is to win a **Microwave Oven** (which is always part of the prizes) but unfortunately, it never happened. Fate is not good with me in terms of winning a major prize in any raffle draws.
And for my entire 35 years of existence, this is the first time that I won in a draw lots!.
And for me, this is such a very memorable moment!. I will never forget this "first time" that I've added to my memory collection for this year!. And I won't be able to have it if not because of you sis @bmjc98. Thank you so much! It is not the amount or the value that made this memory so precious, but it's the winning moment itself :).
And to the entire Club1BCH family, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all of you!. I want you to know that all of your efforts are well appreciated!.
From the bottom of my heart, "Thank you!"
No article again for 2 days...I'm a bit busy with my laundry and some of the house chores hence I don't have much time to write an article..But I'll try later because tomorrow might be busier than today..I'll also try to catch up with your articles folks!...
Just Random Year-End Reflection Questions
My brain cells are frozen again due to the cold weather. I always felt sleepy all the time. My back likes to feel the bed at all times. But of course, I can't lay in bed all day especially during weekdays because of my work.
Since I am out of topic for today, I've explored the internet and found this site that gives year-end reflection questions. I have chosen some that seem interesting to me.
1. *** Most interesting skill or topic you learned this year
The most interesting skill that I learned or acquired this year is PowerShell scripting. It has been included in my goal hence I really tried to learn this programming language and apply it by automating work-related stuff that will help reduce the effort and human intervention.
2. ***Your favorite family memory this year
We've had a lot of memories for keeping this year but my most favorite of them all is when we went to the beach and spent overnight there. It's just the 5 of us. Me, my husband, and my three kids. We enjoyed ourselves a lot and had a lot of fun as well. I've also written an article for that sharing our experience. Part 1 is shared here: https://read.cash/@Khing14/the-unplanned-get-away-16b19014 while the second part can be found here https://read.cash/@Khing14/we-rented-the-entire-resort-2eef3156.
Another thing that made it memorable is that we're the only ones using the swimming pool the next day hence giving us more freedom to move around, especially the kids.
3. ***Your proudest accomplishment this year
It has something to do with my work. This year, I've got the highest rank from my Boss. Details have been shared in this article: https://read.cash/@Khing14/hard-work-always-pays-off-ive-got-the-highest-rating-this-fiscal-year-e2fad243
All of my handwork and efforts have paid off.
4. *** Most embarrassing moment this year
The most embarrassing moment I've got this year happened during our team meeting. When I mispronounced mock "as mak" instead of "mok". In my entire student and employee life, I thought it's "mak". The entire team laughed at me during the call. They even asked me who's my English teacher way back during my school days. And if he/she's still alive.. That was an embarrassing yet funny moment of mine.
I never get offended by that incident because I know in myself that English is one of my weaknesses. I also shared that incident via this article: https://read.cash/@Khing14/english-is-my-weakness-shall-i-feel-ashamed-3e2cebfd.
5. *** Most grateful for this year
For me, one thing that I am very thankful for is that none within my family circle got infected by the Covid-19 virus. And I pray for God's protection for the upcoming year.
Another thing that I am very grateful is that the recent laboratory result of my father (blood chemistry) all turns normal. He is known as a diabetic person because it is part of his genes already. Hence we did not expect that everything is normal except for his blood pressure which is slightly elevated.
6. *** Best movie you saw this year
It's not a movie but rather a series. For me, the best series that I've seen or watched this year is SQUID GAME and MONEY HEIST.
Squid game shared a lot of lessons with its viewer. Each episode features a typical attitude of a person.
Whereas the series Money Heist gives me a lot of entertainment. Maybe because the Professor's move is very unpredictable, unlike other series where you can almost guess what will happen next.
7. *** Something you did this year that you think you will remember for the rest of your life
The most memorable part of this year that I think I will remember forever is being part of noise.cash and read.cash family. These two platforms allowed me to earn BCH for free. The mini-office room into which I am currently typing this article is from my noise.cash earnings. My son's bicycle and my husband's pressure washer are both from my read.cash earnings as well. There's some more but I think no need to mention them all for now :).
In case you're also out of topic like me, you may find more random year-end reflection questions from this site. Have fun!. https://www.skiptomylou.org/new-year-reflection-questions/
Quality Time is Family Time
Sometimes, unplanned getaway is much better than the planned ones..Most of the time, those planned getaway ended up on just being a drawing. Meaning it remained being a plan but was not executed at all due to multiple circumstances.
Yesterday (Christmas Day), my husband woke me up and the kids at around 09:00 AM in the morning. He asked us to prepare because we are going somewhere which is partnof our family's Christmas tradition eversince we owned a car.
So while my kids are fixing themselves, I took the opportunity to clean the house. I basically enabled my ninja moves. I have to move fast for me to be able to finish the polishing of our house before my turn to take a bath.
My husband assisted the kids on what clothes to wear, etc. He gave my toddler a bath as well. While I am finalizing my cleaning, my husband gathered all of our left over foodies from the Christmas eve and put each of them in a clean container and then loaded in the car afterwards.
After my cleaning, I prepared our tumblers and fill each of them with water. We always make sure to bring water whenever our family goes into a picnic or go outaude for a stroll. We put them in a small cooler with some ice to maintain the coldness. It is more refreshing to drink cold water specially if the weather outside is burning like an oven.
While we are finalizing, my husband suddenly asked my father where do he wants to go. My father then told my husband that he wants to visit his sisters in a nearby city (Silang ,Cavite).
Without hesitation, my husband contacted my cousin who resides in another city ( Tanza, Cavite) and told them about our plans. He voluntered to pick them up from their house to minimize their exposure jn commuting because they have a 1 year-old toddler.
And so we left the house and picked up my cousin and his family from Tanza, Cavite.
While we are on our way, my husband suggested my cousins to sing. We've actually brought our rechargeable blueetooth speaker and its two microphones. And because, I have more then 200 videoke songs downloaded in my husband's phone, we have instant videoke in the car!..
We really had fun while in transit to our aunts place. My cousin and his wife are both good singer hence it's like we're listening to a car stereo.
The unplanned get together went well. It was an unending sharing of unlimited stories. There are unlimited topics in the table. I also distributed my angpao with small amount of money inside ($3 each) to my cousins , nephews, and nieces.
Of course we have to take pictures as remembrance of our unplanned yet so memorable get together..
Above picture is in front of my aunt's house. There's just a small piece of leathery material that serves as our roof.
And the fun didn't ended there. We have decided to extend the celebration the next day or today. But the venue is our house.
Below picture was taken from.our garage area.
Christmas season is oftenly being spent with the family. It is the time of the year where everyone sets family as their first priority. I hope this Filipino tradition will continue till the next generations..
That would be all for today folks!. See you around!.
We just arrived at home! We've visitednour aunts and uncles from the nearby city. I tried to access read.cash earlier from my phone while we are on my aunt's place using my mobile data but no luck!. I can't even load the page..
Anyways, it's a well spent Christmas day for my family!.
The last item in my checklist from my yesterday's article which is the videoke has been achieved!..We were singing inside the car while we're on our way earlier going to my aunt's place!..
What happened to my Christmas Checklist?
Yesterday, I shared with you my Christmas checklist via https://read.cash/@Khing14/my-christmas-checklist-2021-1af96ce5.
Hence, I think I am obliged to share what happened to it!.
**First in my list is to make "lumpiang shanghai"**. I woke yesterday at around 9AM in the morning. I woke up late because I also slept late due to my working schedule which is 4:00PM to 1:00AM. After shift, I have to spend an hour or two cleaning the mess downstairs (in our living room, dining area and of course the kitchen area because my three kids are very good in creating a surprise for me. Actually, it's no longer a surprise, because I am already expecting that downstairs will be disaster!. Night time is my best time to clean when my kids are all asleep. I can actually clean the house peacefully and without any distractions.
While I am enjoying my cup of coffee, I texted my husband to buy the necessary ingredients for my lumpiang shanghai. As I have mentioned in my yesterday's article, my main ingredient is ground chicken instead of ground pork. So my husband went to the nearby "talipapa" to supposedly gather the ingredients because his store is out of chicken already. But unfortunately, there are no available ground chicken. I don't want to insist and stress my husband looking for it hence I told him to buy "kinayod na buko" because I will be making "buko salad" for our dessert. But to my surprise, he told me that we already have buko salad stored in the freezer (in our store). He already asked his cook to prepare "buko salad" yesterday.
**Next in the list is the GIFT (wrapped).** Before my shift starts earlier (4:00PM), at around 2:00 in the afternoon, I asked my husband to accompany me to the mall for me to buy a surprise gifts for my kids. I am anticipating that I'll be late for an hour or 2 from my start shift hence I left a message to my colleagues.
I know it won't be an issue with them because I often extend my shift without charging it to overtime as well just to help them resolving an issue or guiding them since most of my colleagues are actually newbies.
But then, things didn't go well as planned. We did not anticipated the traffic.
The 15 to 20 minutes drive has doubled. We arrived at the mall at around 4:00PM in the afternoon already because we left the house past 3.
While we're on our way to the parking, we've already noticed the volume of people in the mall and hence the volume of vehicles in the parking lot as well. But then, I decided to still try my luck. However, this scene welcomed me upon entering the mall's department store:
The queue in the cashier is sooooo loooooonnnnngggggg!!!!!.
So instead of buying some gifts, I decided to defer the plan to some other day because I felt that it won't work. I mean, I might not be able to login within the time that I told my colleagues before I left.
In short, item number 2 is an X as well.
**Third item in my list is the "Family Picture"****.** 15 minutes before midnight earlier, I already step away from my PC to prepare our table and gather everyone to eat. After we ate, I told them to sit in the sofa because we will take group-fie so that we have the remembrance of the 2021 Christmas.
And here are some of our clicks. Apologies because my shots are actually not good. I am not a good photographer.
*Note: I have to blur the photo for privacy purposes.*
So this item is a check!
**Last item in my list is "Videoke".** I am able to download more than 200 karaoke songs until yesterday afternoon. It's a combination of Tagalog and English songs.
I used my PC to download them and then transferred afterwards to my husband and also to my phone (as back-up).
Unfortunately, the picnic plan that we supposed to do later is not yet finalized. My husband's chest is in pain as of last night after he forcedly carry some heavy stuffs yesterday. But, the kids are looking forward to having a picnic, so, I might push for this one to happen unless my husband's chest pain came to worst.
Here's the summary:
That would be all for today folks! It's almost 5:00 AM here in the Philippines, so I have to take a rest for awhile.
Again, wishing you all a very Wonderful Christmas!. Please let us not forget the reason for this season - Jesus Christ!.
Before I go to bed, I just want to greet everyone, Merry Merry Christmas guys!.
Wishing you all a Magical and Delightful Christmas!...Let the spirit of love fill your hearts and your home this season. And lastly, let us not forget the reason for this season .
My Christmas Checklist (2021)
Since it's officially December 24th already!. My shift has just ended (1:00AM) and hence I decided to publish an article before facing the mess downstairs made by my kids earlier. They are all asleep as of this writing by the way, so I can peacefully clean the living room and kitchen after this.
In this article, I would like to share with you my Christmas checklist this 2021.
Prepare the recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai
Lumpiang shanghai is my family's favorite viand/snacks. But I often use ground chicken as my main ingredient instead of ground pork.
My recipe is just simple actually. I don't use any measurements or so. I just use my "tantya" technique.
Here are my list of ingredients:
Carrots
Onion
Garlic
Onion String
Ground Chicken
Raw Eggs
Pepper
Salt
Lumpia Wrapper
I just slice carrots, onion, garlic and the onion string into a small pieces (manually) and then mix them all to the ground chicken. I will then add 1 to 2 pieces of raw eggs depending on the texture of the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste. Again, I just use my "tantya" skills.
Once everything is evenly mixed, I will then start wrapping them and then put them in the refrigerator afterwards.
Wrap simple gifts for my kids
It's not my usual Christmas gesture to give them a wrapped gift because usually, I gave it to them directly after I bought the toys or items without wrapping them. This time, I wanted to be a little bit different. I wanted to wrap them a gift and hand over to them at exactly 12 midnight of December 25th. So that every Christmas, they will look forward for it!.
Dress up for a family pictorial
Again, this is not our usual habit, but I wanted to start a habit this year that every Christmas, we should take family photo. It's basically just a simple photo-shoot, I mean like a group-fie. And then I will collect our pictures every Christmas and New year and compile them together into an album namely "Christmas Album".
I don't have the theme yet for tomorrow but since we do not have much time already to prepare or to buy some clothes, I am thinking of us all just wear white t-shirt since all of us has white t-shirt. A low-cost Family Christmas Photoshoot.
We do not have any fancy cameras hence we will just be using our phone cameras for the pictorial.
Download Karaoke Songs to My Phone
I am not sure about our plan for the Christmas Day yet because we did not talk about it yet. But just in case we will go for a picnic, I am planning to bring our blue-tooth speaker and microphone so that we can sing-along together. I've started downloading songs already to my phone and here are some of them.
With this, we do not need to hire a videoke from anywhere.
How about you? What's on your checklist so far? I and my family are basically celebrating the Christmas in just a pretty much simple way. We do not cook that much because we do not want the food to end-up in the trash-bins afterwards. So, we just cook enough food for the family.
We also do not anticipate any visitors specially because it's still pandemic and lots of people are still not comfortable to have gatherings but let's see how things will go tomorrow!.
Hard work always pays off! I've got the highest rating this fiscal year!
Hi folks! I missed you all!. Finally, after like two or three days, I am able to access read.cash both from my mobile and my pc..yahoo!..
I initially thought it was only me and that read.cash has banned my account coz I am not able to publish any articles for number of days already. But then I learned from posts in noise.cash that it's wide spread issue. Many are affected. First symptoms of the issue is, when I tried to access my account from my PC, the wallet is reflecting $0.00 whereas when I access it via my phone, it's a non-zero value. So to be in a safe side and secure the small cents in my wallet that time, I sent it to my BTC account using my mobile phone.
The year-end is fast approaching!. I can't believe that we are just three days away from Christmas Day!. Did you already wrapped your gift for your beloved ones? Me, not yet due to budget and time constraints.
Anyways, let me move on now to the very good news that I wanted to share with you all as my virtual friends.
*This article is not to lift my self or to brag but I just to share my happiness to all of you guys. You've been part of my daily routine since I became active here in read.cash.*
Being an employee in an IT company, it's part of our yearly process to be rated and ranked by our Managers before the fiscal year ends. Whatever the rating that we get will be the basis of our performance bonus and annual increase.
Early December when our Manager asked us to submit our self-evaluation. Self evaluation is like you're trying to document all of of our achievements against the goals that we've set at the start of the year.
Our performance process is actually being done twice a year or bi-annual. The first half is like just a check-point. It is to track our progress against our goals for the year. Our Manager basically will set a discussion with us and ask how are we progressing in achieving each of our goals. And then the second half is the final evaluation where our Manager will have to provide his feedbacks and rate us accordingly.
And I am so happy to share that I've got the highest score. My Boss gave me rating of **"Significantly Exceeds Expectation"**. Here is what his feedback is:
*An exceptional performance from Khing this year. Her devotion, commitment, and drive has been nothing short of inspiring. I have had number of commendations sent to me of Khing's work and conduct throughout this year by the business, and senior management. This has been fantastic to see. Khing has been extremely important throughout our onboarding of our new starters. The results of which has seen them brimming with confidence and eager to learn and perform.*
*Khing is an excellent innovator, consistently looking at ways to simplify our processes via automation, or by building on our documentation knowledge base, which both have been absolutely critical throughout this year, contributing significantly to the team's success. Khing has worked extremely hard on her self development, building on PowerShell knowledge, and better understanding the underpinning technologies with which she is a SME for, adding significant value to all involved.*
*Khing's nurturing of the new starters have been wonderful. Making them feel welcomed, supported, and confident, giving them the perfect start to their career at TP ICAP. All of them have mentioned how great and supportive Khing has been throughout their probation.* ***Khing is always smiling****, and she has been such an inspiring person to work with. Her can-do attitude and complete commitment to her role has been so important to me and the team.*
*Khing's ability to conquer challenges throughout 2021 will undoubtedly continue throughout 2022 and I really look forward to working with her.*
*Khing, you have been a SUPERSTAR! Thank you so much for your efforts this year, it has been truly appreciated!*
Such lengthy feedback from my Boss is really awesome and very touching!.
And the line "Khing is always smiling" makes me smile while reading it as well!. I did not expected that they will somehow notice my optimistic attitude shown to them. I always talk with energy whenever we're on a team meeting. And I always try to enlighten the team's environment by smiling and showing them that I am always happy even though sometimes deep in me, I am struggling with problems as well.
So, I hope that I will be able to get a good figure in terms of performance bonus and salary increase as a result of my hardworks to deliver best quality of work for the entire 2021!.
As I was always saying to my Boss, I am just doing my job and I am just helping the team. But I always do my work with dedication and commitment. Maybe those are some of the flavors of having good quality result.
Once again, many thanks for spending some time reading this article of mine. It is always appreciated!.
You may want to visit my sponsor's pages as well. They have lots of articles that's within your interest for sure!.
20th BF/GF Anniversary
Hello everyone! To my fellow Filipino and countrymen, I hope you and your families are safe from Odette.
It is heartbreaking to see the aftermath of the typhoon from my former colleague's post. She's residing now in Cebu. Lots of trees have collapsed and lots of crops have been washed out by the storm. I just wish and pray for their recovery from the aftermath of the typhoon.
By the way, I am not able to publish articles for like three days already. I just feeling so tired and not in the mood to write. It's like my braincells are freezing every time I tried to start my writing.
Work From Home Extended till February 2022
I just want to share a good news to you guys. This is related to the article that I have posted about three days ago about my RTO exception request approved by my Boss's Manager. I am happy to announce that my Boss got the approval from HR to allow me extend my work from home. But I was given an extension until February next year only. So hopefully by then, we're able to get a trusted helper. I've already told the same to my husband and he is also happy with the good news. It means, no more costly travel for him and for the kids to send and fetch me from the office. https://read.cash/@Khing14/my-rto-exception-request-was-approved-ea086d21
Anyways, I am out of topic lately actually coz as I have mentioned, my braincells are like freezing every time I sit in front of my PC and started writing. So now, while waiting for my eyes and my mind to shutdown, let me share you an important milestone of my husband and I's life as a couple in general.
Our 20th BF/GF Anniversary
Last Tuesday, December 14, 2021. we have celebrated our 20th BF/GF anniversary. While to some, this is of no importance, to both my husband and I, this celebration is more precious than our Wedding day.
For celebrations like this, my husband is more expressive in social media than me. In fact, he posted a greeting message last October 22 for our Wedding Anniversary.
And then last Tuesday, for our BF/GF anniversary.
He is so proud that we've reached 20 years of being together. He even told me **"Bihira na ang nakakaabot ng ganyan katagal kaya dapat proud tayo dyan".**
45 minutes of Celebration
One thing that I've regret? I did not allocated any vacation leaves for our BF/GF anniversary. That's why my husband kept on saying "Dapat nagleave ka eh". And the worst part? It fall on Tuesday which is my report to office schedule. So in short, we are unable to plan for any celebration. Fortunately, my shift has rotated. So from 6:00AM to 3:00PM shift, I was moved to 2:00PM to 11:00PM shift starting last Monday. It means, we can still have a little time in the morning to have the small celebration of this milestone of our being together as a couple.
And just to have a small celebration, I told him that we will leave 1 hour early so we can take out our favorite family food and then eat together at the parking lot.
And as planned, we left our house at 11 AM in the morning. We arrived Bonifacio Global City (BGC) at around 1:00PM which means I still have 1 hour before my shift starts. My husband parked our car in front of the building where I work and opened all of the car windows so that the air can pass through and circulate inside the car.
This time, I am the one who posted our family photo in social media. I actually have a hidden agenda why I posted this in social media. So that my Boss can see it hahaha..and to tell him that I am not lying when I told him that we are having a family field trip whenever my husband and kids send me to and fetch me from the office. This will serve as my proof to him :)
So that day, we have 2 boxes of Large Pizza, Chicken and Mojo combo and Pasta from our favorite fast food. I know you have guessed it already from that picture where my youngest son is eating mojo...... Shakey's.
At around 1:45 PM, I told my husband that I have to go because I don't want to be late. Each single minute that we're late from the grace period of 10 minutes will be deducted in our salary. And since any single cent is important to me, I don't want to loose any.
And that's how we have celebrated our 20th anniversary. Quick but full of memories and so much fun.
My RTO Exception Request was approved!
Thursday last week, I have written an article entitled "Special Treatment....Shall I grab it or not?". This is about the Return to Office exception that my Manager is offering me after he learned about my journey to office after my first day of RTO last Tuesday, December 7, 2021. https://read.cash/@Khing14/special-treatmentshall-i-grab-it-or-not-34a4d979
I am quite hesitant at first because I am thinking of being unfair to my colleagues but then after writing the aforementioned article and read the suggestions from some of you which is mostly advising me to grab it, I finally decided to grab the opportunity since my Boss is ready to back me up for the same.
And so, that night of Thursday, I've written my request thru email. Below is what I've told my Boss thru mail.
*As discussed, I am asking for the possibilities of delaying my return to office schedules for the following reasons:*
*June last year, our stay-in helper went home to their province in fear of the rising covid positive cases here in Cavite. We’ve been trying to find replacement since the RTO announcement last October, however, we’re struggling to find stay-in helper which will take care of my three kids while I am away.*
*My journey to the office is quite a challenge as the public transport is very limited from where I live.*
*Last Tuesday, my husband and my kids sent me to the office and it took us almost 2 hours to arrive where we took the fastest route.*
*They have to fetch me after shift to avoid commuting in public transport to avoid exposure. This equates to 2 hours to get me and then another 2 hours to bring me home. This is counter-productive for both of us but this is the only option I can consider at the moment.*
*Considering the length of travel time if I commute, I am most likely at risk of not arriving on time for my shift, not to mention the waiting time for the bus.*
*Please let me know if this is something we can work-out with.*
I've waited for his response till last Monday. And since, I did not received anything yet from him, I thought my request wasn't granted.
So I've sent him a follow-up message last Monday night. Below is our convo (I have to mask the name mentioned in our conversation for confidentiality purposes.
**Me:** Hi Boss, good afternoon! Just wonder if you've read my mail already regarding RTO Exception Request?
**My Boss:** Heya Khing! I did indeed! Really sorry, there's some HR things that I need to cover off before I can raise this exception! In all honesty, I'm not sure whether this request is going to get approval. I will be raising this with xxxxx tomorrow, and we'll hopefully get approval to raise it with HR
As you can see, his response is so uncertain. I mean because morning that day, the HR sent another notice or memo with the RTO plans till March next year. And in that memo, it was mentioned that we are required to report to the office 3x a week. From once a week this month (December), starting January next year, it will become 3 times a week.
I am actually hopeless upon reading that notice from the HR last Monday morning, but I still want to try my luck.
And then last Tuesday, during our one-on-one call, our topic is actually mainly about my request. I've enumerated to him my concerns and difficulties of returning into office too soon (we're not ready yet to be honest).
He told me to leave it to him, that he will speak to his Manager to get the necessary approval before he sends an email to our local HR.
And just awhile ago, he chatted me if I can have time for a quick chat. He called me just to send the good news that his Manager approved my exception request!. Yahooo!...
So he told me that he will send an email to our Local HR today and will keep me posted on the progress!. I am so thankful really that I have a Boss like him who's priority is our welfare. Even though there's no assurance that our Local HR will grant my request yet, I am still very touch with my Manager's gestures and I will forever treasure it!.
I am not yet there! but I am almost there!
That's all about the good news from my end for today. I opted to share it with you being my virtual friends.
By the way, I am able to accumulate $5 now (hehe!) hence I am looking for my baby (me being the Santa). This is in response to the BCH Santa Challenge by @bmjc98 . This challenge runs till December 23rd so hurry and be a Santa as well!. https://read.cash/@bmjc98/be-a-bch-santa-just-for-a-day-challenge-143e325c
We are taken for granted!
Happy Monday Everyone!.
Some of you might already been aware from my previous articles that we have a stay-out helper. She's actually good. I like the quality of her works, and she's kind as well to my kids. In fact, my youngest son like her that every afternoon, he cries out so loud whenever our stay-out helper bid her good-bye.
But then, there's one major problem with her : **TARDINESS**.
Late
Always absent
She's always Late and she thought it's just fine with us!
Our agreement is that her shift schedule would be from 7:00AM to 6:00PM PH time but then she arrives in each morning nearly 8:00 or past 08:00 AM already, and when she arrives, I am almost done with the basic house chores like cooking our breakfast and washing the dishes because my kids class starts at 09:00 AM.
And then there were times that as early as 4:30 PM, she already ask to go home. I let her leave early specially because during that time, she has nothing to do already around that time.
Since her late is so noticeable already, I told my husband everything. That she always arrive 1 hour or more late in each morning.
My husband then talked to her and guess what her response?
**"Akala ko kasi okay lang na ganung oras ako papasok".**
She's always absent and she still thought it's fine with us!
Aside from being consistently late, she always took sudden leave. Ever since she started with us, I don't recall a week where she has completed the attendance. There's always a day or two that she's absent. And the worst? she won't advise that she can't come until we initiated to contact her.
Since I am the one who is always left with my kids in the house, I am the most impacted whenever she's late or cannot come to help me. And I always rant to my husband since he is the one who hired our stay-out helper.
***The purpose of having a helper is always being defeated because she's always absent!.***
What I noticed is that when she doesn't feel to come and work. she will notify us that she has a cold, a headache, stomach ache, a tooth-ache, an achy arm, and so on!. I think she already used almost all of the possible reason to justify her absenteeism.
Around third week of November, I took 5 days straight leave from my work. And guess what she did? She's also absent for like 3 days of that same week!. And that's why my husband told her that "Khing took leave to take a rest but looks like she took holidays so you can also take yours". And her response?
**"Akala ko kasi okay lang umabsent dahil wala naman pasok si Khing".**
Two weeks ago, she asked us that she cannot come by Monday because she will have her dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We're do not have an issue with that. In fact, we're paying her day even though she's not around because the reason is for vaccination.
Tuesday, or the day after her vaccination, she texted my husband and notify us that she cannot come because her arm is aching due to the effect of the vaccine. And since we knew and experienced it as well, we let her be, and still decided to pay her day even she didn't come.
Then come Wednesday, she did not notify my husband. It's past 8:00 AM already when I asked my husband to text her and ask if she can come. I believe it was around 8:30 AM already. Take note that she supposedly come by 07:00 AM but it's past 08:00 AM already, she's not around yet, and no notification at all. And then few minutes after my husband's text, she replied that she cannot come becuase her arm is still in pain and she cannot lift it up yet.
Thursday of the same week, we've waited for her again. No notifications at all again this time. My husband texted her but no response received. To my dismay, I chatted her over her FB account. I asked her if she cannot come that day. And I also asked her that if she cannot come, she must notify us so that we do not wait for her at all.
And her response? Same old story of taking the situation for granted to take sudden off!.
And so I told her to take the whole week rest so to let her body recover from t effect of vaccine even though I know that she's just using it as an alibi because my sister in law went to their house that afternoon and didn't actually noticed anything about her. She looks completely fine!
So last week, Monday, she came!. Finally!.
And then Tuesday, I think some of you is aware that Tuesday last week is my first day of RTO and my husband sent and picked me from the office so that I won't commute and to lessen my possible exposure to the virus. And you know what, since she knew that my husband is picking me up from the office, she asked to leave early as well. so by 12 noon, she went home!. In other words, she took a half day leave Tuesday last week.
Wednesday, it's laundry day so she came again. Then on the same day, she told my husband that she cannot come by Thursday due to some errands. She needs to go somewhere in Manila to visit her relatives.
And then Last Friday, around 5:30 AM in the morning, she texted my husband. She told my husband that she cannot come again...and guess what's her reason? Chest pain!..
And so I told my husband, it's enough!. I am already enough!. Just let her go and told her that we will seek for her replacement already.
Saturday afternoon, she went to my husband's store and ask if we still wanted her to be our stay-out helper. And my husband told her frankly everything that she needs to hear from us.
Kindness and patience has limitations!. So we must not take it for granted because however that person badly needed your help, they would rather stand on their feet alone than to live in stress with an abusive person!
Thanks much po @Chelle18 sa papasko :).
Top Filipino Viand in my List
Felt like I am disoriented with the date again. I don't know what date it is today till I checked the calendar.
What I only know is that I need to pay kids' monthly tuition because next week is their exams week again. In fact, their teacher sent reminded me of it already yesterday :).
Above message is their teacher indirectly telling us to pay our obligation before Monday (tomorrow). And actually, I just paid them before writing this article earlier :).
Anyways, let me just share you today my favorite Filipino Viand that I've posted and shared in noise.cash till date.
Pork Sinigang
This is my most requested viand to my husband specially during payday..haha..I love the version of this that has lots of "gabi".
This one is a bit pricey because of its main ingredients which is the pork and hence I only request this every payday! .
Fried Dried Fish with Sunny Side-up Egg
This is my favorite combo for breakfast. This is what we usually have in our table for breakfast.
Actually, I love grilled dried fish as well but since its preparation is more hassle because we need to set-up the griller and other stuff, then the fried version is mostly being chosen.
This combo is perfect with a cup of coffee..
Garlic Buttered Shrimp
I love my husband's version of this. This is one of the best! My kids and I love this so much!.
However, given the price of the shrimp, I seldom request this viand. Of course, I need to consider our budget first before requesting any cozy viand for the fambam!.
Chicken Feet Adobo
My husband and I like the spicy version of this chicken feet adobo. You know what made this special? If you eat without pork and spoon, or in other words, if you will eat these with your bare hands!...
hmmm yummy!..I'm craving for this right now ..hahaha. The steamed vegetables are also perfect to compliment with the spiciness of the chicken feet adobo. It's the one to equalize the taste and help you bear the burning feeling in your tongue because of the chili.
Grilled Tilapia Fish with Vegetable Salad
My husband love Tilapia so much!. He's also selling live tilapia in his store. And actually, he's planning to put in an aquarium in our garage area. His reason? so he can just easily scoop tilapia from there every time he wants grilled tilapia :)..
Take note: Our store is just less than 1 km away from our house.
At first, I am against with his plan because as I have mentioned, our store where there are bunch of live tilapia is just few tumbling away from our house. But, as he wish, then I just let him do what he wants :)..That's how he is passionate about tilapia (lol).
By the way, this is perfect to be partnered with vegetable salad.
All you have to do is steam any kid of veggies like Okra, eggplant, kamote leaves, pechay leaves, and even ampalaya. Then slice 1 to 2 pieces of tomatoes and 1 to 2 pieces of medium size onion!. Then pour a small amount of vinegar and sprinkle ample amount of salt. And voila!. You already have a vegetable salad!.
Those listed above are just on my top list, I have lots more..
Apologies folks if I made you drool or crave with Filipino dishes right now :).My braincells are freezing for 1 week now and hence it's not as functional as before..
How about you? What's on your top list? I would also love to know them!.
Things I love about Christmas! Reminiscing my Childhood
I guess every child is excited about Christmas!. Why? Because traditionally, their Godfather and Godmother are obliged to give some gifts, either toys or money to them.
In my case, here are the things I love about Christmas when I was a kid.
Carroling.
Second week of december, we are starting to collect bottle caps already or what we call in our mother tongue (tagalog) as "tansan".
This is how it looks like:
Image source https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QCo2K0XXtFU/T-tWXa4frwI/AAAAAAAAAF0/Yi2ReRpWZBM/s1600/tansan.png
We roam around each garbage place, and stores day by day to find and collect bottle caps around.
When we have enough number of it already (20 caps or more), we make tambourine using it.
What we do is, we put a hole in the middle of each cap using a nail. Once done making hole to each of the bottle caps, we will then find some wire and form a circle using it. After that, we will the wire in the hole of each caps.
Finish product:
And then we will form a group of three or more. When we don't have the DIY tambourine, what we also do is find a CAN or a Gallon container and then pick up a stick and make a sound using it (like a drum).
And then we will wait for December 16th (the official start of "Simbang Gabi"). Each night from December 16th to December 24th, we will go to each houses, sing any Christmas carol that we know and share our angelic voices (charot!) with them.
But then given the poor life in the province, we're lucky enough to bring home 5 pesos each for each night of our caroling because most of the time what you will hear from them is the famous word "Patawad!"
Monito Monita.
Did you also experienced this? Two weeks before the Christmas Vacation at school, our teacher usually organize this kind of exchanging gift. We will basically think of any code names we want, and tell it to our teacher. The teacher will then make a drop box with our code names in it.
Each one of us will be asked to pick one and whoever that codename we picked will be our Baby. Baby as in each week or day (depending on the mechanics), the teacher will set the "Something" or the "Theme" of the gift that we need to give to our Baby.
Let's say for example this week's theme is "Something Long". We need to think of a thing that corresponds to "something long", wrap it around with old newspapers or any scratch papers and put it in the designated area in out classroom.
The challenge in this monito-monita gift is that finding out who your baby is. So each one of us, to be able to hide our identity, we usually pick the items with our codenames from the designated area when no one is around. We need to make sure that no one is around.
During the Christmas Party, we will need to bring our Final Gift to our Monito or Monita. We should comply with the minimum amount set by our teacher.
The "code-name reveal" happens in the Christmas Party during the actual exchange gift.
It's kind of fun, I remember when I was in second year high-school, I always receive double gift. Why? My classmate who has crush on me discovered my code-name and each day, he keeps on dropping a gift in our designated gift dropping area (haba ng hair ko diba?).
Christmas Party.
I guess, this is one of the most awaited moment in school during my schooldays. Parents ought to buy new clothes for us which we will wear during our Christmas party. So the school Christmas Party became the venue for the students to have new clothes and shoes.
I am excited to attend the Christmas Party at school back then because I am so excited for the exchange gift portion!. I am so excited to receive a gift from my classmate. I just so love the thrill and suspense while opening the gifts really :).
How about you? What are the things that make you excited about Christmas during your childhood days? I will love to read it out in the comment section below.
Special Treatment....Shall I grab it or not?
For those who have read my previous articles, I do mentioned there that we're mandated to Return to Office or what we also call as RTO starting this week. We are required to spend 1 day per week in the office. And hence, we are asked to select what day do we prefer to report and I selected Tuesday. The main reason why I choose this day is because my kids don't have school since their online schooling schedule is MWF only (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). I can still assist them on their online school specially my daughter who is currently in Grade 2.
Last Tuesday, December 7th is my first day of RTO. I've actually shared my experience in here entitled Return to Office during pandemic : First Day. My shift starts at 6:00 AM and hence I have to leave the house by 4:00AM. My husband decided to drive me to the office for me to avoid the hustle of commute and to minimize my possible exposure to the virus. And since we do not have stay-in helper, we have decided to bring the kids along with us. https://read.cash/@Khing14/return-to-office-during-pandemic-first-day-463f004e
My Boss Gave Me an Option
Night of the same day (Tuesday), my Boss sent me a direct message asking how's my journey to office. He knows my proximity from the office and he also knows that I commute going to and from the office.
Here is bits of our conversation, a bit blurred though so let me type in the transcript after the image.
***My Boss:*** *Hey Khing!!! How was the journey in to the office?*
***Me:*** *Hi Boss, My husband drive me to the office earlier.... with the kids ..So it's like a family field trip I would say..likewise after shift....*
***My Boss:*** *Ahhhhhh that's lovely!!*
***Me:*** *It's fun, however kind of costly...😁..Gas, tollgate, and the kids' foodies!..I have adjusted my shift as well (from 23:00 to 22:00 UK time) to avoid the traffic rush hour..so the travel time just took less than 2 hours (one way)...*
***My Boss:*** *Damn!!! 2 hours!!!*
***Me:*** *That means, my kids spent a total of 8 hrs in the road ...hahaha.*.
As you may notice, I thought it was just a simple, like sharing of travel experience or so and hence I am trying to sound optimistic as I can :)...
But then I am a bit surprised with his next question (again, the image is a bit blurred to let me create a transcript of it after the image.
***My Boss:*** *Will you continue to do that going forward?*
***Me:*** *If I have a choice Boss, of course I won't..but as I told with Paul earlier, it will be unfair to my colleague if I will request a special arrangement or so...*
***My Boss:*** *It's got nothing to do with being unfair to your colleagues, Khing. You need to do what is right for you and your family*
And then he also asked my how's my commute prior to covid. Below is my reponse:
*Commute Boss (average travel time is 2.5 hrs to 3 hrs)..worst experience so far is 5 hrs (one way)..*
*pre covid, provincial buses are allowed to route or travel along EDSA...*
*But now, I believe they are only allowed till PASAY ave. From there I have to take another BUS to ayala avenue then ride a BGC bus afterwards.. it's like additional waiting hours for me..*
So he advised me to raise an exception for the RTO (Return to Office) and that he would back me up on this one but I needed to initiate an email detailing my journey to office and the possible risk not only to my health but also risk of arriving late if something goes wrong along the way.
I am really touched by the gesture of my Boss. That's a proof that he is really concerned about our welfare.
Still undecided!
Post our conversation last Tuesday, I am yet to send an email request because until now, I am still thinking of whether I will grab that opportunity of extending my RTO or not because to be honest, I wanted to be fair with my team mates. However, our major difference is that, they don't commute and their proximity from the office is not that far as mine.
So, what do you think guys? If you are my colleague, what will you think if you will learn that our Boss do not require me to report to the office (yet)? Will you think that I am being selfish or so? Or will you think that I am seeking for special treatment from our Boss?
I am still undecided as of this writing...huhuhu...
Return to Office during pandemic : First Day
Hi folks!. Happy Tuesday to you all!. Today, December 7, 2021 is my first day of RTO or Return to Office after more than a year of working from home.
For this month, we are required to report to office once a week. We've been asked to choose the day wherein we will be reporting to office. Since my kids' online school is MWF, I choose Tuesday!. That's why today is my first day in the office during pandemic period!.
I planned of going into bed early because I need to wake up by 3:00AM to prepare for work. I need to leave by 4:00AM for my 6:00AM shift. However, I struggled a lot! I couldn't sleep despite of efforts to fall asleep.
At around 2:50 AM, my youngest son woke-up so I decided to get up from the bed and prepare for work. I took a bathe at around 3:00AM but of course I have to heat a kettle of water first because the water is so cold!. I cannot resist it!.
Before 4AM, I am well dressed already and so I took some selfie to mark my first day of RTO. I posted some in my FB page.
charaaannnn!!!.
Look at those eye bags!..hahaha..Effect of no sleep!.
When I told my husband about it, he teased me that I am just being excited of my first day of RTO.
My husband don't want me to commute so he decided to drive me to the office. But since we don't have a stay-in helper yet, my husband and I decided to bring the kids with us.
We left the house at around 4:00 AM. We took the express road to lessen our travel time because I am aiming to arrive in the office by 06:00 AM. But to our surprise, as early as 5:00AM, there's congestion already along the road.
I thought I won't be able to make it before 6:00AM in the office, but luckily, I arrived in the office at around 5:39AM in the morning!.
I am just so excited to sit in front of my desk again!. I just missed my dual monitor, and spacious desk.
My monitors are actually new. They are bigger than my old ones. The CPU is new as well and it's much smaller as my previous one!.
Total headcount in the office is too few around that time. I guess we're just like 3 to 5 maybe.
I am so sleepy earlier while in my desk. I believe I accidentally fell asleep at my desk multiple times earlier!. Good thing, there's mirror on the desk beside me hence as soon as I woke up from accidental nap, I immediately check myself in the mirror and tried to compose and fix my face right away!.
Unlike from previous weeks where I am too much busy at work, this week onwards, my workload is actually super duper light! . So most of my shift are in "PANGGAP mode!". I have to pretend that I am busy and as if I am doing something but in fact, I am doing nothing! hahahaha...
Anyways, another good stuff from returning to office is the free meal!.
I don't really like the meal. It's like a sauted chicken and there is a side dish macaroni sprinkled with some herbs!..I don't really like herbs hence I did not enjoyed my meal that much!.
But the dessert (egg pie) is perfect!. It's so delicious!.
My shift today ended so well. As mentioned above, it's mostly spent in PAGPAPANGGAP mode.
I feel so tired and so sleepy earlier hence as soon as we arrived, I go straight to our bedroom and took some sleep. My youngest son joined me in my nap as well.
Many thanks folks for listening to my today's story.
The Best Gift Ever!
This is it!. After couple of days thinking, I've finally made up my mind to create my Christmas Ice Breaker Question version which originated from @BCH_Genisis 's article: " Christmas Ice Breaker Questions". I just used a different questionnaire but the concept is basically the same. https://read.cash/@BCH_Genisis/christmas-icebreaker-questions-33c9d196 https://hugateen.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Christmas_Icebreaker_Questions_Free_Printable.pdf
* What is your favorite Christmas movie?
I actually love "The GRINCH". Actually, not only me but my kids love this movie too! For those who didn't had a chance to watch this movie yet, let me just share a quick background of the story.
https://youtu.be/_UOh0UX3alI
This is about a creature who has a cat like face and his body is covered with yellow-green colored furs. He is so mean with everyone, and that is because he literally has a very small heart. hates Christmas season!. He has a side-kick dog named MAX.
oooopppssss!!.. I think I better not spoil the entire story. You better watch it to see why my kids and I loved it! In fact, we watched it multiple times already.
* Do you have a favorite Christmas song?
Yes I do have!. Mariah Carey's "**All I want for Christmas is You**"
https://youtu.be/aAkMkVFwAoo
I just love her voice, the tune and the tempo of the song...
Actually, I also love Ariana Grande's "**Last Christmas**".
* How would you describe the holidays in one word?
Since I am more of about earning extra money, I will describe holiday as "**Compensation**"..Yay!.
I love to work during holiday because of the holiday compensations. I will just file vacation leave afterwards to make time with my family.
* If you could spend the holidays anywhere, where would you choose to go?
I want to visit our house in Oriental Mindoro. Also, most of my husband and I's relatives are residing there. It's almost two years when we last visited our home town. Luckily, my husband's brother volunteered to take care of our house. Hopefully, by next year, we will be able to visit our beloved birth place together with our kids just like before the pandemic where we used to spend a week or two there.
* Do you have Christmas lights and decorations on the outside of your home?
This year, we do not have anything that symbolizes Christmas outside of our home. My husband is not really a fan of Christmas Lights, etc. He is more concerned about the accident that might happen due to broken Christmas Lights or anything the same.
* Did you shop for gifts primarily online or at stores?
I would love to shop at stores because I can see and hold the item in person. I can easily find the damage or defect if there's any.
It's been my habit (prior the pandemic) to buy gifts like mugs, bowl and some cheap items from the mall. I wrap them individually, put names on it and put them under our Christmas Tree.
I usually prepare gifts for my siblings, parents, niece and nephews, team mates, and to my cousins too!. But since pandemic, I failed to make this habit because of the government restrictions to go outside.
This year, if budget permits, I would like to continue this tradition of mine but let's see. I still have more than two weeks to decide.
* If you could give anything, what would you want to give your parents?
Since my father is jobless for years now, same with the previous Christmas, I would normally give him cash as my Christmas present. Same with my siblings. They appreciate it more because they can buy anything they want.
* What would be your one Christmas wish?
Good health and safety for my entire family circle!. Specially now that there is new variant of the virus which is also known as "omicron". My single wish for this Christmas is to keep away my family from the virus!.
This is it for today folks!
How about you? What's your Christmas Ice Breaker questions?
Hoping everyone to have a joyful and sage Christmas!. Let us not forget the reason behind this celebration - **Jesus Christ was born to save us from our sins**. **HE is the GREATEST GIFT of all! HE is the BEST GIFT ever!**
Cell Phone Raid!
Happy Sunday everyone!. Wow! Can you imagine? It's just like December first yesterday, and now, it's already December 5th!.
I cannot recall who's the first to post this kind of article about featuring what on his/her phone (apologies because I really have a very short term memory) but I want to join the challenge since I don't really have a topic for today.
My Lock Screen : Random image of CATS00
I am an animal lover. I love animals, specifically domestic dogs and cats.
It sets my mood everytime I hold my phone and saw those cutie images of different cats in my phone. They change from time to time so I don't really like felt bored with it.
I love cats because they are so sweet and loves to cuddle always.
My Lock Screen : Tulip
Aside from being an animal lover, I am also a "plantita". I love plants! I love planting flowers and vegetables and I always love to connect to the nature. That might be the reason why one of my favorite colors is GREEN.
I chosen this tulip from my gallery because I find it simple yet elegant!.
Mostly used Applications
From the photo above, you will noticed that I usually has group of applications. The ones I mostly used are under the WORK and SIDELINES folders.
My work folder contains my work-related applications. It contains my outlook (for emails), teams chat (for comms), Okta verify (for accessing work related applications) and whatsapp (for external comms).
My Sidelines folder contains my trading and some other earning applications.
PDAX is the trading application I am using in buying and selling cryptocurrencies (mostly BCH of course).
I also have Binance but I am not comfortable to use it yet. I have it installed when one of my colleagues encouraged me to use it because it has a lot of features useful for trading. However, till this writing, I am not familiar with mos of its features.
Google authenticator is what I am using as my 2 factor authenticator for my trading application PDAX.
Of course I have my noise.cash and read.cash over there. My most number of visited applications I would say.
I also have metamask because I used to participate with some airdrops before. I swap my smartBCH tokens using my metamask wallet. I also tried farming EBENs using my metamask wallet. I just swapped my 1500 $CATS recently as well. I also have some other tokens I've earned from airdrops like $ARG and $LOVE.
And of course, I also have telegram and twitter applications where I mainly use to participate in airdrops.
And then lastly is STORMGAIN application. I use it to mine BTC and do some tradings as well. But I am having hard time to get used to it for trading hence my initially earned $10 became $7+ only. I've lost more than $2 because of the recent market drop.
First Photo
I believe I took that photo the first night I have my phone. That's the freebies I've got which is a 10,000 mAH powerbank. I took this photo to share in the article that I've published that same night :
https://read.cash/@Khing14/from-free-phone-to-self-purchased-phone-c3daf7d7
Last taken picture
Took that picture to share our viand last night in our dinner in noise.cash. That's churizo.
I really love that viand ever since my husband introduced that to me. I saw it hanging in his store yesterday so without hesutation, I took some and cooked it for our dinner!
And that's it for today guys! Thanks much for your time and non-ending support!
The Aftermath of The Momster ME : GUILT
Time check! 1:04 AM..It's Saturday already! Fourth day of December, 2021. I can't sleep yet so I took my phone and started typing some words and this topic suddenly sparked!
Admittedly, I have a very short temper when it comes to my kids. I believe stress and lack of sleep is the major factor. But I don't have a choice. It's like at the moment, I am trapped on those situation.
Working from home while taking care of my three kids is really exhausting sometimes. I don't have anyone to talk to aside from my husband of what I currently feel or about what I am going through.
There were times that my husband is listening willingly to my rants about our set-up and about my stress level. But there are also times that he is opposing all of it!. And during those times that my husband couldn't understand me and don't want to listen to me anymore, I really felt so alone. I don't have someone to talk to, I don't have someone to release what I really felt inside. Despite all those hardships, I still need to compose myself whenever I face my work. And that brings additional pressure to me whenever I am into that situation.
Main factor that triggers my Momster side:
There are lots of times that I am in a call when suddenly my eldest son and daughter do some commotions. They often fight. They fight over our television's remote control, they fight about the food, they fight about everything!.. and so as my youngest son. Both my son sometimes or I think I would rather say often times have quarrel with my only daughter...I am not sure why as well.
Most of the times, those commotions between my kids triggers my Momster to come out. I don't like it to be honest!. I cannot even imagine the aftermath guilt that I am feeling inside. I don't like to yell at them, I don't like to screw them, I don't like to spank them. But, I just can't help it!.. I am a very short tempered mom!.
One time I overheard from my son's online class, his teacher asked them:
"Who amongst you have feelings that you are not the favorite of your mom and dad?".
Guess what? My eldest son raised his hand..So his teacher asked him, why do you think you are not favorite?
And then my son answered "Kasi po palagi ako ang inuutusan saka ang unang pinapagalitan"..
I felt so guilty when I heard that. I know it's not his fault being the eldest, but he is the one who should adjust against his siblings because he is more mature than them. He knows what is right and what is wrong already.
After their lesson, I tried to explain to him the reason why do we always ask him to fix their bed, wash the dishes and mop the floor. Why not his youngest brother or his younger sister?...
We tried to explain the reason why we wanted him to learn the basic house chores. So that when he grows up, whenever he goes, whether we (his parents) are around or not, atleast he knows what to do and how to deal with the situation is
We also tried to explain that being the eldest, it is his main responsibility help us to take care of our house. It is his main responsibility to help us take care of his siblings when we are busy with house chores. And that eventually, when his sister and his youngest brother came to the right age, we will also teach whatever we taught him to both of them.
In fact, we already started it with his younger sister (currently 7 years of age)
Every after meal, we ask my eldest son to wash the dishes and then at the same time, we also ask our daughter to sweep the floor so that my eldest son wouldn't feel that we are unfair to him.
I know some of you is already judging my parenting style or technique now.
I know that it is not right to always yell at my kids. Like I said, I knew it, but I just can't help it most of the time because my patience is very short!.
But I am trying!..I am trying to be calm at all times.
Sometimes, I manage to remain calm but there are times that I just can't control it and it just suddenly burst to my kids.
And I felt so sorry about it. The aftermath of allowing the momster me to come out is always the GUILT inside of me.
Akala ko ay namamalikmata lang ako..pero hindi pala..thanks sis @BCH_LOVER sa pagrenew!!!..maagang papasko ito for me..salamat ng marami!
My First Pregnancy = "Unplanned"
Wala akong maisip na topic today kaya kumagat nalang din ako sa pa challenge. Sana maalala ko pa ang mga details sa unang pagbubuntis ko.
My first pregnancy is actually unplanned. Post my graduation, pinalad ako na makapasok sa Accenture as Associate Software Engineet. Wala pa akong idea sa pinasok kong work actually. Sumali lang ako sa caravan sa school at doon nga, isa ako sa mga nakapasa. Hindi ko alam na IT pala ang pinasok ko na trabaho that time.
Dahil sa masyadong malayo ang Manila sa tinitirahan namin that time, kinailangan kong kumuha ng apartment. Nakahanap naman ako, kasama ko ang mga kaklase ko din na nakuha din sa Accenture.
Sa kabilang banda, nagtatrabaho naman sa Laguna si ex BF ko na ngayon ay mister ko na. At syempre, dahil mas maluwag ang schedule ko, twing weekends, sa apartment nya sa Laguna ako umuuwi.. That time, more than 5 years na kaming mag BF GF kaya sobrang komportable na kami sa isa't isa.
Sa makatuwid, palay ho ang lumapit sa manok!.
Alternating ang set-up ko noon. Halimbawa, kung ngayong weekend sa BF ko sa Laguna ako umuwi,sa susunod na weekend, sa bahay naman namin sa Cavite.
After a year na ganun ang set-up namin, never namin inasahan na mabubuntis ako.
One time, panggabi ako nun, all of a sudden biglang may napansin sa akin yung Team Lead ko..Parang may something daw saken..parang blooming daw ako..so since wala pa akong clue that time na buntis pala ako, patay malisya lang. Sumama pako sa team building namin that time, somewhere in Batangas.
And then dumating na nga yung time na dapat period ko na, that was May 2009..Nag hintay ako ng over 1 week pa bago ko sinabi sa ex BF ko na delayed ang period ko. So pag uwi ko sa Laguna, bumili sya ng dalawang magkaibang brand ng pregnancy kit. Sa makatuwid, nag pregnancy test ako. At parehong positive ang result.
Nung mismong sumunod na weekend, umuwi kami sa bahay, sinamahan nya ako dahil ang plano namin ay sasabihin na namin ang totoong kundisyon ko. Agad nyang kinausap ang tatay ko. At syempre, wala na silang nagawa.
And so since then, every weekends, sa Laguna na ako umuuwi (sa ex-BF ko na). Sobrang hirap ng first pregnancy ko.
In my first trimester, nagka UTI ako, kaya kinailangan ko mag antibiotics. Nagbleeding din ako nun kaya niresetahan din ako ng pampakapit. Siguro dahil tagtag din ako sa layo ng nilalakad ko papasok sa office , may overpass pa na tinatawiran.
Kahit na tagtag ako sa lakad, on my 5th month, namanas na agad ako. Namamaga ang ilong, mukha, kamay at paa ko. Though maliit lang yung tiyan ko that time, pero sobrang manas ako. As in yung paa ko ay kitang kita ang paglobo.
Nagpakasal din kami sa huwes nung ika 5th month ng pregnancy ko. Naalala ko nung bumili kami ng ring, grabehan!. Since manas ang mga daliri ko nung time na bumili kami ng ring, ayun nung makapanganak ako at nawala na yung pamamanas, sobrang luwag nya. Hindi ko maisuot, hanggang nawala nalang din dahil hindi ko nga sinusuot.
Aside from pamamanas, sobra yung sensitivity ng ilong at sikmura ko. Ultimong sa polbo eh naiirita ang ilong ko. At kapag talaga hindi ko gusto yung amoy, sumusuka talaga ako. Madalas din ako nasusuka, take note, suka po hindi yung tiping naduduwal lang. Ang dami kong embarrasing moments lalo na kapag nasa byahe ako sa BUS. All of the time, sumusuka talaga ako. May times pa na halfway palang ako papunta sa destinasyon ko, bababa na ako sa BUS and then maghahanap ng CR somewhere para makasuka. Regardless kung malayo or malapit ang destinasyon, nasusuka talaga ako sa byahe nun. Achievement na sa akin yung makarating ako sa destinasyon ko nang hindi sumusuka. Kahit sa office, maya't maya din ako nasa CR para sumuka.
Pero sobrang thankful naman po ako kay Lord kasi nairaos ko naman ang first pregnancy ko nang healthy ang baby ko. Wala namang naging problema hanggang sa manganak ako. Nailabas ko din via normal delivery ang anak ko.
Share ko lang ang picture nya :)..1 year-old sya that time, nagaaral palang maglakad.
And ito na sya ngayon, 11 years-old na po - Grade VI.
Anyways, ito po ang entry ko sa pa-challenge ni @Momentswithmatti . Pasensya na po kasi tinagalog ko na at nagrerefill pa ng english ang braincells ko.
Ikaw, anong first pregnancy story mo? Halina po at i-share mo din sa amin!.
A not so GOOD NEWS on the First Day of December
Gosh!. Time flies so fast, yes it really is!. Can you imagine? 30 days more and the year will be flipping from 2021 to 2022!.
A quick look back to my November achievements!.
Before I move to my topic for today, let me just to a quick recap on how my November went in this platform.
I can say that November is a very busy month for me and hence I missed lots of days posting an article in here. In other words, I failed with my goal of posting 30 articles for the whole month.
Here are the list of my published articles for the month of November.
1. Sumigaw nang Pabulong! **$3.46**
2. The over-killed Germs! **$4.81**
3. * Fat Finger * Error **$6.57**
4. Citronella - The Mosquito Repellant **$4.92**
5. Knee-Jerk Reaction **$7.54**
6. Be Productive! Say "NO" **$4.44**
7. From free phone to self-purchased phone **$6.07**
8. ENGLISH is my weakness! Shall I feel ashamed? **$6.79**
9. Wear your mask, Wear your smile **$6.42**
10. There is always Two sides of a thing **$4.49**
11. The Unplanned Get-away **$4.53**
12. We rented the entire resort‽ **$5.71**
13. Attitude versus Technical Skills **$7.04**
14. Smart Switch **$11.37**
15. Sunday Funday! **$4.75**
16. Tunog Kalye **$3.88**
17. I urge my kids to review prior their exams...am I a bad mother? **$5.47**
18. Pampering myself!... "Add to cart pa more!" **$6.62**
19. Nobody's perfect! **$4.30**
20. My "plantita" self. **$3.74**
21. Always looking forward to "SUNDAY" **$4.75**
22. We cannot please everyone! **$1.11**
All in all, I have published 22 articles and total earnings is **$118.78.** And as of this writing (9.26 PM PH time), my bitcoin.com wallet has total earnings of **$107.66**.
This amount is much lower as compared to my last October earnings where I am able to earn **$130.47** net amount (gross amount is **$159.86**)**.** My total number of articles posted for November (22) is also much lesser as compared with my October articles where I am able to publish a total of 26 articles for the whole month!.
But I am still very thankful and kind of amazed because I did not expected that I am able to publish **22 articles** despite my hectic schedule. I've been hooked with automating stuffs at my work and since I do not have any background in PowerShell scripting (from my previous works), I used to self study using the available learning materials online (a.k.a. google!).
We are required to return to office by next week!
A not so good news we have today!. Earlier, at around 6:30 PM PH time, my Boss organized a quick meeting with us, into which he announced the bad news (for me). He said that since our government has mandated that companies (like us) are required to have a 10% attendance of employees in the office.
Due to that, my Boss decided to require us to report to the office once each week (until further notice). He asked me specifically on what my view is, with that announcement, because he knows that my proximity from the office is 45 km and I commute!.
So my response is like "I guess , we don't have a choice since it's mandated by the government, do we?". And he explicitly responded, "Nope, we have to comply! or else, we will be fined!."
My Boss let us decide on the specific day that we wanted to be in the office. So since my kids have online classes MWF, I have chosen Tuesday!.
I told my husband about that bad news, and he is questioning me, why so fast? Why next week already? You're not given enough time to prepare? And I told him back, "Nope, my Boss says it's mandated by the government and we have to comply."
So starting Tuesday next week, I'll be reporting to work already. I pray and I hope that I won't be exposed with the new variant of the virus which is also known as "Omicron". So, wish me luck folks!. No choice, but to comply!.
**That's all for my today's rant :)..**
**Many thanks for your patience and for all your support as always!.**
Grabehan mga marehan!. Salamat sa pagrenew ng sponsorship (and super duper upgraded pa!) @yhanne and @bloghound!...Super generous nyo sobra... More blessings pa po sa inyo...
@Khing14
