For some reason, despite my alarm going off at 5am and an affirmative from the hubby to go biking up to Antipolo, we found ourselves rousing ourselves from bed at a wee-bit past 7am. I do have a vague recollection of being on auto-pilot with my computer and posting my daughter’s album of yesterday’s ride to my wall and engaging in a very, super brief chat with my Canadian-based cousin (Pearl) before falling back in the warm and cozy embrace of our bed.
To make up for the lack of discipline (in the exercise area), I had one measly pancake and 1/4 cup of coffee for breakfast. Then went on with my daily morning drill of checking my email.The usual flurry of of notifications from Facebook littered my inbox which is to be expected especially after a ride. I skipped those and jumped to a message from my friend, Linette.
Linette Pascual-Paras“rain check na naman tayo…Perlatot needs her rest. at rain check talaga because it’s rainin’ cats and dogs here in sampaloc. wala pa naman akong karu.”
Our friend Pearl, (from our Superfriends Yahoo group ) was still recuperating from the biopsy procedure and had re-set our get-together to next week.
From there, I clicked on the link 10 Ways to Pursue Happiness: 1. Because of the title and 2. because it was written by my high school friend, Cathy Babao. I wanted to re-affirm my own pursuit of happiness and perhaps check that I am on the right track…
By: Cathy Babao-Guballa
Philippine Daily Inquirer
After reading the article, I clicked on my own Facebook profile page to view the various photos I was tagged in. Am not much of a commentator but I left a thank-you note on one and pressed ‘like’ on a couple of others. And then, would you believe it - I pressed the sleep- button on my computer and went promptly back to sleep. I practically slept my morning away…
I woke up in time to supervise lunch preparations and then proceeded to “watch” (while surfing the net ) a downloaded movie entitled 10 Things I Hate About You with the hubby. I blog-hopped from my other blog to my brother’s blog because he had a new entry entitled “Waiting at the Wings”. His entries are not too regular so when he posts, I make it a point to check it out.
The lunch table was full. The family was complete plus we had 2 visiting friends stay for lunch (who also stayed for dinner). Lunch talk covered various topics including a plan to bike to Baguio during the sem-break and a plan to run and bike in UP after lunch today.
After lunch, I switched on my computer (yes, for the nth time) with no real-purpose except perhaps to greet a good college buddy of mine Happy Birthday and to write him a private message. I also ‘googled’ the name of a person I met while biking yesterday. We had struck up a conversation during the ride and it turns out, we had many common friends. Googling him was a discovery that was both awe-inspiring and sad. I learned about his story here: Wawel’s Story Part 1. / Part 2. He is someone to be admired for his strength, courage, faithfulness and the purity of his love for his wife. After that I responded to a couple of emails on my Gmail account.
And then , guess what?!! Yes, I slept again!!!I took an afternoon nap. I woke up and realized I had aborted my own plan of getting some exercise done…I decided to prepare an early dinner of pasta and sent out a couple of text messages via my mobile to some people inviting them to go for a bike / run with me.
Well, I have to admit, I stayed in my house dress (sleep wear) all day, never made it to U.P. to squeeze in some exercise. I spent such a laid-back Sunday where the only ‘active’ thing I did was “toot” (censored) hehehe and bike to Church.
Indeed, Happiness is A Lazy Sunday (author’s note: I am working on being happy about embracing the concept of “not doing anything.” )
Week-days are for biking. Week-ends are for biking. I bike for Clean Air. Today was no exception. My alarm went off at 5am and it was easy enough to jump out of bed. The ‘problem’ however lay in the destination…there are always so many places to bike to…today it was a toss up between going up to check up on our house in Antipolo or joining the Firefly Brigade’s CMR (Critical Mass Ride). I quickly turned on my computer to check out the details on Facebook.
We’re installing some bicycle racks in three public spaces :)
Meet-up: 7.30am
Ride Out: 8.00am
Meet up Place: Greenhills Shopping Center Bike Rack Area
Route- Greenhills-Ortigas-New Manila-E Rodriguez-Morato-Roces- Quezon Ave (stopover at Ninoy Aquino Monument Q Ave cor Timog)-Timog- right at Jamboree-left Kamuning- cross Edsa to Kamias, right at K-G- left at K-8th-left Anonas-cross Kamias- right Maginhawa-right to Krus na Ligas-right to CP Garcia-enter UP via E. Jacinto-one round around UP Bike lanes-Turnover of bike racks to UP-CMC and UP-Film Center. ;-)
Wear something yellow! :) In commemoration of Ninoy Aquino Day.
The verdict: today we joined the CMR. 
Kamias Rd.
BIG Group Shot (photo credit: Zeus Maxi) “The Filipino is Worth Dying For” ~Ninoy Aquino Monument, Morato Ave.
We got back home after a scrumptious lunch. Not surprisingly, as soon as I opened my computer and checked on my Yahoo, my inbox was full of notifications of being tagged in so and so’s photos, or being mentioned in a note etc. Sometimes, one can’t help but give in to narcissism, the temptation to check out the photos and notes I was tagged in prevailed and the afternoon was spent multi-tasking among these 4 activities: 1. “Facebooking” = reading my news feed, looking at photos , commenting etc 2. Cutting my friend Pu’s hair 3. Watching the Ateneo-UST UAAP game on TV and 4. Texting my HS friends (trying to coordinate how I would get to a small high school dinner get-together at the other end of town).
After dinner, I checked out the photo album my daughter posted on her Facebook page. See More photos of today’s ride HERE August 20, 2011. I then checked out details of an event called What a Pillow is Not at Mag:Net. Sad to say, I wasn’t able to make it to my li’l high school shindig (Alabang was too far) but was able to go to Mag:Net on Katipunan Rd. to appreciate 2 forms of art: visual and musical. Photos to follow.
My family and I woke up early today to go to the Department of Foreign Affairs to renew our passports. As usual, I opened up my computer. I went on this site http://www.dfa.gov.ph/main/index.php/renewal-of-passport to double check on the requirements that we were requested to bring with us to the DFA. Since my computer was open, I decided to do some quickie checks on my yahoo and gmail. In less than 5 minutes I was able to exchange a few messages via gmail chat with my cousin regarding my day’s schedule…and another 5 minutes with another friend to respond to an email exchange regarding this post:
What are the similarities of BAR and BRA
1. Both words have the same letters.
2. Both are drinking zones.
3. Both have restricted timing for opening and closing.
4. Most importantly, both makes men crazy when open.
This was the response of my friend:
“Very funny. Actually, I’d be content to live in a world without either. I still have fond memories of my teen years when there was rampant (well, by today’s standards) bralessness.”
Just as quickly, I had to log off to leave for the DFA on Macapagal Ave. While I was there, I was hoping to surf via my phone however I couldn’t because I had to be alert to what was going on around me. I hate to say this but the system sucks! We were there from morning all the way till after lunch! There were signs all over declaring “We serve our customers with a SMILE”. My thought was: Your smile is good but I prefer efficiency. (insert BIG SIGH here).
When we got home, I immediately turned on my computer and it was just as well as I had some work-related stuff to post on my Facebook: Please check it out:
Karen Silva Crisostomo ”Enemies” by JD Blake is once again available for sale at www.raphaelandclover.com.
USD39.95 plus free shipping worldwide
Don’t forget, every unique item purchase will entitle you to 1 raffle entry for our draw on Feb. 14, 2012, where you might win Louis Vuitton bags, Montblanc fountain pens, Panerai watches, and 1 of 4 2-week holidays for 2 to Santorini, Greece!
See www.raphaelandclover.com for complete details
Raphael & Clover Publishing House - HOME www.raphaelandclover.comRaphael & Clover Publishing and Print Media 8 hours ago · Privacy:Friends · LikeUnlike · · Share
After posting, I quickly responded to a few private messages regarding a high school dinner get-together for tomorrow night. I then also googled some sample recipes for Baked Pork Chops since I was having a guest (Cath) over for dinner. Suffice to say dinner was a success!
After taking Cath home, I went online to check once again for any new messages… and browsed through an album posted by my daughter on Facebook wherein I was tagged.
The album contained photos of the 1st ARTBIKE (Art gallery hopping on bikes) held last July 23, 2011.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150259528656078.325162.547301077&type=1
It was a very nice album - but it’s been a very long day for me made more exhausting by the lack of efficiency from this morning’s activities. The good news? If I need to travel next month…despite the hassle, my passport will be ready by then.
As I end my day, I think of 3 good reasons to SMILE:- renewed passport.- successful dinner preparations for Cath- a healthy, happy family.
Good-night everyone. :)
When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is switch on my computer. Of course I do this only after kissing my hubby and checking that the children are up and getting ready for school. While it starts up, I go about my morning rituals so that when I sit down to check on my “regular” stuff, I have at least washed my face, brushed my teeth and have a mug of steaming coffee next to me.
What are the regular sites I automatically click on?
- Yahoo Mail - my longest standing email address and known to many of my friends and family because I have had that account since 1994. I also get my Facebook notifications there.
- Gmail - my more formal email address, which is where I receive my online work notifications.
- Facebook - depending on the notifications posted in my yahoo account. I can sometimes scoot back and forth from Yahoo to Facebook.
- While on these sites, I also turn on the following chat boxes:a. Yahoo chat b. Gmail chat c. Skype and d. *optional Facebook chat.
Today, my eye was caught by an email thread on one of my yahoo groups called ‘Superfriends’. A good friend of ours found a lump in her breast and will undergo a breast incision biopsy. The outpouring of support and prayers for her from everyone in the group was heartwarming to say the least. The news came amidst a thread of birthday wishes for 2 of our other girl-friends and my own boastful comment about how I am not on any maintenance medication and am feeling pretty healthy and strong for a woman in her mid-forties (ehem-ehem). The news about the lump prompted me to initiate a get-together this week-end. Again, this is me thinking, life is too short - let’s see each other and bask in the warmth of each others’ company while we can.
Here is my friend’s response:
“Thanks to all of you for the support and prayers. i’m having the procedure done tomorrow at the medical city. Linette, til when will you be in Manila? We can probably meet during the week-end. Again, thanks mga superfriends. I really appreciate your friendship. as J9 says ibang klase talaga ang bond natin.I may not express it often but you know i love you all. keeping all of you in my prayers….”
Speaking of being strong and healthy, being an avid cyclist, I got an invitation to attend Livestrong Day. I have only joined a race once and would like to do so again. In fact, I am training for a duathlon to be held on September 10. Wish me luck. Of course, I spent 15 minutes on this site checking out the details: http://livestrongdayph.com/
As part of my training and strengthening of muscles, I visited my favorite exercise site: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/training-day/201106/three-ab-exercises-you-can-do-without-leaving-your-couch I stayed on those sites for an hour to accompany me as I exercised.
After which, I went on my Gmail chat to share the site with my cousin, Pearl who lives in Canada. She will be visiting this coming December and we will be going to Pagudpud (so we need to get our bodies ‘bikini-ready’. (lol). We chatted for an hour, promising each other that we would check up on each others progress (no cheating and no skipping).
And so, if I want to continue to ‘live strong’, I will now go on to my yahoo chat box and Facebook message box to check if I have any work-related correspondence. I check on these chat devices spasmodically throughout the day. If there are no messages, I shall log off or go invisible so that I can continue doing more research for the publishing company I work for. Over and out (for now.)
Jeannine in red. Taken during Tito Logy’s 80th bday. Photo credit: Debbie N. Rodrigo
Today is Jeannine’s birthday. I went on Skype with her to greet her face to face. We spent more than an hour talking about this and that…catching up on each others families. Just talking about life in general. The reception on Skype was clear today — not at all choppy as it is on other days. It certainly is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family overseas. I even brought my laptop with me to the kitchen so she could “sit” with me while I ate my lunch. I told her, we were having pizza since it is her birthday.
I also posted a birthday poem I made for her on her Facebook page, checking on my own page as well…reading news feeds, updates and comments - ahhh, getting derailed and losing my focus on the task at hand. I am sure, I am not alone when I say Facebook surfing, lurking and stalking is time consuming… It ate up another hour of my oh-so-precious time…but I am digressing as usual.
I had to go to my other website, “From Within My Fontanels” to retrieve the poem I had written for her 4 years ago. Click here to see 1st poem. Of course I browsed through and “wasted” another hour just reading past posts and reminiscing events…I guess, it’s not really time wasted as it serves as a reminder about how rich in blessings my life is… and that having wonderful, lifetime friendships is a good example of such blessings. Life is good. oops and my morning is gone… oh well.
OK, here’s the new poem I made:
Chapter 2 (English this time)
Oh, has it been 4 years
since we had those cold beers?
meeting up in Key West
Yes, was one of the best
I wrote Para Kay K9
My Tagalog was fine
You doubted my Puetry
You thought Rosar helped me
Those sweet thoughts were all mine
Please admit they’re divine
This is Chapter Two
Recall Unang Yug2
Sharing same sentiments
Varied some condiments
It is your special day
Golden’s 2 years away
You are just forty-eight
Not even over-weight
Still looking very good
Making Soy in the mood
Wishing you love and peace
and happiness always
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jeannine!
Skyping with J9 on her Birthday
