There was an update for Ikariam a few days ago, and among the changes I’ve noticed are these little guys basking in the sun when a town’s mood is happy:
Yet another reason to enjoy Ikariam.
Oh, on a different matter…
I bought a kit from Funky Playground Design’s One Dollar Deal promo:
Isn’t it fabulous and a steal for one dollar? 🙂
One thing I truly look forward to every other Friday, apart from getting my fortnightly pay of course, is the Payday Bazaar that we have at work. I used to participate there, along with my cousin Freedah but we’ve long since given up on that particular business venture. There was a time that I looked forward to the children’s books sold at the bazaar and I picked up many books from there throughout the years. Books that my nephews (and nieces too) have really enjoyed and learned from. There’s also a lot of food stuff at the bazaar. I always look forward to getting either a pasta fix, or California maki. I’d sometimes get ref cake like the Congo Mango Arianne once made, or even small cups of blueberry cheesecake. I used to also take home packs of chocolatey stuff.
Last night, I got mini chocolate cupcakes and gave one piece for each of my agents, in celebration of a teammate’s birthday. Hehe 🙂 It was yummy and it was good that they were bite-sized.
Before going home this morning I checked out this new seller. I wanted to get a keychain/bag charms from her but I had to admit that they weren’t really a need for me (but they were so cute and would show the shopaholic in me – really very kikay, haha), I also wanted a clip-on light that she was selling. Ah, and there was this bag that was really just screaming at me to take it home!
I settled for these two items though – items that seem more suited for boys than a girly girl like me. Haha.
That’s a no-battery flashlight. Rechargeable by just pressing on that thingie on it’s side. I wouldn’t have to ever buy batteries for it! Plus it’s a stress reliever. 🙂 The other one is a set of cute screwdrivers! Haha! The size is just perfect for those small screws on the PC, or on mom and dad’s (and Alfred’s) glasses, and on Frankie’s lenses. We’ll never have to look for just the right size of Phillips screwdrivers!
I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but these items satiated my shopaholic fix for the day – at bargain prizes too!
I am determined to make all my weekends count. Specially now that weekend for me actually happens midweek, having Tuesdays-Wednesdays off work.
This morning, I met up with the boyfried at Fully Booked in Gateway. Went there straight from work and I actually lasted until about three in the afternoon. Not bad. I was sleepy by the time I left my desk, but all the energy came back once I stepped foot in the mall. Haha.
Problem is, instead of getting any Christmas shopping done, I bought a couple more things for myself. A Jennifer Weiner title from the second-hand book shop, a top from SM, and chocolates and candies from Marks & Spencers. I also decided on what to put on my wishlist for the exchange gift we’re having at work (tough choice!). To be honest, I didn’t really put much effort into finding stuff to give. I’m not sure why. I also don’t know if I’ll be trying again tomorrow. I do know that we’re going back to San Benissa for the presentation, and I’m really looking forward to that (but I’ve mentioned that before, haven’t I?) 🙂
It’s nighttime now but I have a several things I want to do before going back to bed. Alfred mentioned that he was going to fix our closet and stow away the jackets that are not being used anymore. Having slept on the couch this afternoon, I don’t know if he has actually managed to do that before he left to meet up with his friends tonight. Whether he did or not, I’d like to contribute to that effort so I’ll arrange our other clothes and not all mixed up all over the place like they are now 🙂
I’d also like to leaf through my baking book tonight. Perhaps that will inspire me to bake through this holiday season, like Decembers past. I am still thinking which of these two interesting books I’d order online, maybe you can help me? The images are linked to a review page.
I still have not picked out a gift for my agents. I want to give something to my former agents that I left back at the 7th floor (after all their wonderful performance this year has paved the way for my monthly bonuses for me), as well as something for my 16 new kids (who are seriously challenging my abilities at this point). But I don’t actually have a bayong full of cash to spend for this, you know? Last year, I got cute bear cellphone charms for each of my agents, I attached them to these cute Christmas cards I printed out.
When we were at Greenhills a few days ago, I saw some cute stuff that would be awesome to give away. There’s this item we saw in Quiapo too that would make a nice present. Ijust don’t know when we could go back and finally make a choice. I’m tempted to get some small items that are normally used for promotional business gifts, but instead of having them stamped/printed with a business name, I’d have our team name and logo printed all over the stuff. That way, I’d be able to give them presents, and boost team spirit too! Haha 🙂
I also don’t have anything for mom and dad yet. Dad showed me a pair of trainers he’d love to have. Only, I don’t want to indulge him. Hehe. I’d probably check with Kuya so we can just put our budget together for their presents.
Ma will take care of shopping for the rest of the kids in the family. If they don’t finish today, Alfred and I would probably shop for more on Tuesday/Wednesday.
Quality Coaching
For December Week 2 (which ended Saturday noon) I didn’t meet my monitoring allocation. Bummer. I’ve always been proud of the quality of my coaching sessions with my agents. For the past eight or nine months this year, I’ve had the perfect situation because I only had a handful of agents and I was always a hundred percent with getting them covered in terms of monitoring their sessions, and coaching them on all of the other things they should be aware of as employees of the company.
That’s what I sought out to do with my new team. The thing is, I have more than twice as much agents, and I need to monitor and upload about four times more than I used to. I also need to backtrack a lot to have the best picture of their performance as I could get. Many, if not all of them, are in dire need of some TM love and affection. Haha. Seriously, they have a lot of potential that’s just waiting to be released.
I just can’t help but feel that I may not be focusing on the right things, at this point in time.
To be honest, I was so busy the past week I am disappointed that I still didn’t meet target. I don’t take breaks, and take my lunch so late in the shift already (or not at all). Still, I fell short. That’s not very encouraging.
But I can’t allow myself to dwell on that. I have to look and move forward. And you can bet your ass that I will.
Blue skies and Chocolate
That’s going to be the colors on our condo unit. We met with the designer again yesterday and that’s what we agreed on. Blue would be the main colour (a nice light and bright tone) and there would be chocolate accent walls.
Can’t wait to go back there on Wednesday to see the renderings and mock up 🙂
We only really started Christmas shopping yesterday, and it was crazy. I felt like I had already given every gift imaginable to the kids on our list in past Christmases, it was so difficult to find something I think they would like, would fit them, or would amaze them.Â
Apart from the variety of items to choose from, it was really disheartening how much things cost now. For the amount we had on hand yesterday, we used to be able to buy gifts for all the kids in the family. Yesterday, we only found gifts for less than a third of our list, but we already halved the money! Crazy!
What’s even more crazy is that we found more things for Alfred and myself, than for my nieces and nephews! Alfred got an Adidas Japan jacket – something he has really wanted since the start of this year. I got a HUGE red Nike jacket. Haha.
Considering that I had already bought myself a present for Christmas – Frankie – Â I really shouldn’t be buying anything more for me. So though I dreamt of buying an XboX 360 last night, I’m pretty sure I won’t be doing that anytime soon.
So we’re also shelving the idea of getting a TV for the room. Mine is the only room in the house (not counting the bathrooms of course) that doesn’t have a TV. Because the room is really tiny, there was initially the question of what size to get and where to put it. Then we thought we’d just get it it’s own TV stand that we can also use to store our other stuff.
Anyway, the TV will have to wait a few more months.Â
We’ll still be squeezing in some more Christmas shopping between now and the 24th. Â If I really can’t do it, then my Mom and Dad will. Maybe they have more patience for this. This used to be my thing, you know? Christmas shopping was something my brother and I did on behalf of my parents; then Alfred tookover the task with me. But since last year, I’ve just lost some of the energy for it. Bleh.
 