Singing hymns gets me through things. A lot of times when you spend time contemplating you have the tendency to either be filled with gratefulness, or be overwhelmed with sadness.  A death in the family is undoubtedly a sad time. But singing hymns during the wake makes all the difference.

In these photos you’ll see three groups singing hymns for Papa – the teenagers with their Aunties (2nd row), the oldies (grandmothers), and the little ones.

So what got me thinking about hymns anyway? The Pioneer Woman posted an audio clip of her son singing my grandfather’s favorite song, Oh, what a beautiful morning. That post reminded me of when she posted a video of her son practicing As the Deer. Listen to both.

Here, checkout the infomercial:

Amazing product isn’t it? Smoothies! Perfect for summer! And mom could use it to juice vegetables too. So when I saw it at the GrouponPH site, I purchased it.

That was back in March. Purchase date: 03.03.2012

Today is 05.09.2012 and I still don’t have the Magic Bullet. Summer’s ending. We’ve opted for the more expensive JujuCleanse (compared to the price I paid for the Magic Bullet) to do a one-day cleanse with vegetable juice. Still no Magic Bullet.

The voucher said that the product would be available for pickup from 03.09.2012 to 03.23.2012. Orders not picked up would be sent for delivery within five days. I had all intentions to drive all the way to their Makati office to pick it up, but work schedule and color coding didn’t make it possible for me. I waited for the promised free delivery. It hasn’t arrived until now.

They were quick to charge my card, yet two months later I still haven’t seen the product. I followed up via Twitter (@GrouponPH), no response. I called their number, busy tone or no answer. I’ve sent an email, no response.

On 04.17.2012, I did receive a generic email message apologizing for the delay. Shortage in supply, they say. Keep us updated, they say. I followed up on 04.26.2012. Dedma to the world. Silence.

Weeks later, and there’s no news. No subsequent attempts to give an update. Define – nganga.

I sent off a tweet again before working on this post, no response yet. I also just fired off an email to support and hopefully they’d finally respond to that.

I had no qualms giving them my money after getting good service from a purchase last Christmas. They helped make Christmas shopping easy for me and delivery was fast. When I thanked them via Twitter for their efficiency, they retweeted and acknowledged right away. I need that efficiency now.

So, where’s my Magic Bullet?

Sometimes I wish we had water fountains everywhere and the water was clean and you could dip your feet in and splash splash the heat away. Sorta like what they have all around Italy. Or at least what I think they have around there. Haha.

The closest we have to water fountains here are the ones in malls and parks. But you can’t really go near them. and the water isn’t to be trusted. I ran a search for water fountains in Manila, and came across this photo and blog:

It looks very simple, not too old. Where is this? I’d like to see it up close. I love that it’s under trees so it won’t be too hot out there. Or shouldn’t be. Can anyone tell me where exactly this is?

The Photo Templates come with Fabric (texture) labels too. I look forward to using them on the blogs. Download them here. (Photo credit goes to blog owner)

So today is another lazy day. It’s middle of the week but I was off work last night. Why? I was at The Cranberries concert! I absolutely love their songs, love the band. Sitting at our Upper Box seas at the Araneta sent me through a trip back to my highschool days when I first heard those songs. Dreams and Linger were the first two songs for the night and they are my favorites!

Alfred couldn’t get time off work (I was pretty bummed about that) but my cousin Nikki kept me company. We were almost late because I slept until 7PM (left work at past 1PM), but we made it to Araneta by 8PM. There was no front act performer, it was straight to the main show. Don’t remember what time it actually started, probably around 830PM. We didn’t mind the wait.

After the party, we stopped by the table where they were selling CDs. I got me their all-hits CD as well as their new album, Roses. Can’t wait to get those loaded on my iPhone. Listening to them with these Sennheiser CX400 in-ear earphones would be great, yah? Too bad I don’t have those. Very tempted to get them on sale from Yugadeals.

I Instagrammed photos straight to The Newbie Photographer, not much but something to check out.  I tried to send them real-time but 3G signal wasn’t good for me at the coliseum, so those were sent after the show.

We arrived home around 1AM. I dozed off on the sofa and maybe an hour later got the beginnings of a nasty headache. In the morning it was full blown. I threw up all the contents of my stomach without even getting any breakfast in. I only started to feel like myself again at lunch time. So yeah, wasted a day.

Also wanted to share that I got a new case for my iPhone over the weekend. One that lets me carry my security badge too. It looks like this, but mine is in a darker, old-rose. Click the photo to buy one for yourself.

Which means I have something to write about for Between the Covers, but I’m not in the mood. So my latest post will still have to be The Hunger Games. Oh how I wish I could go see the movie right now. And then I’ll go grab books 2 and 3 and read them too.

For the meantime, here’s a recipe I Pinned, to be tried (hopefully) some time. Katniss’ District 11 Bread, from Our Best Bites:

Mmmm. I really should start baking again. Or start learning how to cook real food.

28 posts across three blogs:

Where the Moon Shines – March 2012

Between the Covers – March 2012

The  {Newbie} Photographer – March 2012

Not bad. I feel like there could have been more.

For my Comments challenge I left a total of 114 comments all over various blogs. That’s 114% to goal and also 48 comments more than February. So for April, I’ll aim for 115 comments. Just because.

1 incomplete week spread for Project Life. I could do more there, and yes I will.

1 spontaneous road trip. And looking forward to more.

2 books read.

Lots of fun in the water for our dear Amir.

An average of 5 training sessions held per week in the past 3 weeks. With more to be done before this month ends.

Transitioning to a brand new team. Now that’s ongoing. And a lot of fun too.

Busy busy March, paving the way for an Amazing April!

This new month, it’s time to step beyond the stanchions holding the velvet rope, and seize the limelight! It is time I take more control of what happens to my life, instead of waiting around to see what would. Time to enable others to do the same.

Hello, April! Bring it on!

Nice.

As I drove home alone this morning, I was thinking about a blog post to vent on things that upset me today. But I realized that I had already had my chance to express that (thanks, Ric, though you are not likely to see this) and maybe it won’t do me any good to keep dwelling on it. After all, you are not the sum of your mistakes even when that’s what some people choose to remember. It’s a challenge for all of us, to minimize mistakes and always strive to be better. So I’m choosing to be better instead. Besides, I need not change my disposition about anyone because of this, but I doubt if they can still be the same towards me – and that’s their challenge not mine.