Bazaar?!

Mom is home from her Bangkok trip. She’s been there since Sunday for a conference. 

I haven’t downloaded their pictures from the camera yet, I’m hoping there are nice photos of the river cruise. I went on one the last time I was there in 2000. It was a lovely time. Mom says that Dad complained about not knowing about the night river cruises, haha.

She brought me home a beautiful sarong of black Thai silk. I love Thai silk but I’ve always just found them really expensive. I did buy myself this nice big sling bag made of one, in maroon. Alfred has had it hostage for a long time now, but seeing the sarong reminds me to take it back. Now I don’t know if I’ll wear the sarong as is or have it adjusted to be shorter. I used to wear sarongs a lot when I was still studying. Actually, some of the ones I used weren’t even really designed to be sarongs. They were actually shawls that I’d just fold a certain way, then wrap around me. I’d fasten them with pins and wear shorts under, just in case they unravelled while I was out. Haha!

It’s payday weekend and we got half of our 13th month pay. People are usually very happy, but not today. They are saying that they can’t appreciate the bonus very much because it’s been divided in two. Others argue that the income tax deductions have made the sum really disappointing. 

I wasn’t very happy with my net pay either, but it is what it is. I am just hoping that I’d get a decent sum for the tax refund by the end of the year when they finally recompute using the new tax exemptions for tax witheld since July of this year. If not,  well then, I’ll just be happy I earn enough to be taxed that much!

Now there’s a bazaar at work every pay day. Vendors come to sell food, clothes, shoes, and anything and everything you can imagine. I used to participate there to sell brownies that I made, plus other stuff that my cousin and I could scrounge up. There was a time that we sold shawls, clothes, bags, makeup, accessories including those magnetic bracelets that we found at a very affordable price. When we bought those bracelets, we already thought about marketing them as healing bracelets – we actually sold a piece or two before the actual bazaar.

As Christmas is approaching, more and more of those who still remember those days are asking me about baking/selling again – they ask a lot for the truffles too. I really want to get back to it but thinking of my oven is enough to make me forget about everything. 

I bought a chocolate cupcake with marshmallow icing and a choco mudslide cake this afternoon. The cupcake base tastes a lot like the ones I make but I’d have to say I prefer mine. I’m not a big fan of having that much icing on it (beehive like) but perhaps people may prefer it over the type of icing I used – or not. The cake and its fudge was – uhm, okay. The caramel seemed to have been mixed in with the fudge itself and that doesn’t particularly appeal to me. I remember the fudge that my aunt used to make and I think that’s a lot better. 

So I know I can totally compete with the baked goods that are currently sold at the bazaar, I really just have to commit the time and energy into it. I don’t know if I want to spend on the space, and the person who would man the booth too. 

My days off are changing again starting next week. I’ll have a very short one-day weekend because I’ll be reporting back to work on Sunday night. That means Fridays off moving forward. Perfect for getting ready to sell in time for payday bazaar. Maybe that’s the universe way of nudging me towards where I should be going? Nyaha! 😉

Stories in Hand

Back in the 3rd week of October, I excitedly signed up for a class at JessicaSprague.com called Stories in Hand. It’s a brand new class that teaches Jessica’s own system of making sure there is a way to tell the stories that one would love to tell – in one way or another. Oh, and it’s a free class too.

It started on Monday, but I haven’t done a single thing – save from readig the daily email, and the instructions for each of the four days that have passed.

But I really love what I’m seeing of the class so far, and I really really want to do it. So tomorrow OR Saturday, I will make sure that I pass by the bookstore and pick up some supplies that I will be needing for the class. I should have done that weeks ago (not that saying so will change anything).

Though free, it is a copyrighted class and I don’t think it’s appropriate to share too much about it right here – specially the principles. But I would sure love to show off my binder when I’ve made it 🙂

 

Food Fight

Alfred and I almost broke out fighting this morning – over food. 

Nope, he wasn’t telling to stop eating. Nor was I telling him how much he’s been eating. We woke up at lunch (or rather I did, he was already awake) just in time for my brother to yell up the stairs to let me know that he and his girlfriend were going to the grocery. He didn’t mention lunch so I assumed it was each to his own for the day. So Alfred and I decided that he’d fry luncheon meat for our lunch – and cook rice too. 

Before he did all that, he asked me to ask my brother (through SMS) if they were lunching at home – I told him they probably weren’t and to just cook enough rice for the two of us. Just before sitting down to eat, I finally called my brother to ask him to pick up some dog food but they were already heading home. And he said that he was cooking pasta and we shouldn’t have cooked lunch. I said that was okay. But Alfred was listening – and then started complaining about how I should have called earlier and we wouldn’t have had to cook yadda yadda yadda. 

We exchanged words and stares and yet we still, eventually, sat down to eat together. Crisis averted.

In the end it was still the right move to have fixed our lunch – otherwise, we would have dined an hour later. If I was in a hurry to get to work, I wouldn’t have been able to eat.

I’m sure boyfriend was thinking about how it should have been me worrying about what to cook or what we’ll eat. He’s definitely said that many times before. But there’s just not a lot that I can cook. I can fry without any assistance – and that’s pretty much it. There are perhaps one or two easy green bean recipes that I can cook (including one that he actually loves), but the ingredients aren’t always available in the house. 

But surely, in his eyes, it all boils down to how lazy I am when it comes to things like this. The truth? I am lazy. Haha!

Needle Sized Art (and more)

…I started writing this last night but my server conked out on me before I finished. Thank God for autosave…

I received a link to this video and I just wanted to post it right away.

 

Needle Sized Art
Very incredible story! Not only is this mans art cool but he got a ton of cash for it!

 

Isn’t he amazing? I know there is an artist in the Philippines who makes miniature paintings on rice grains. They would work well together, wouldn’t they? 🙂

American Chopper is on TV tonight, it’s a rerun of their Lance Armstrong special. I’ve seen that episode several times and yet I watched it again from start to finish. I heard somewhere that Lance is going out of retirement to ride for the Tour of France again, is that true? When will that be?

Anyway, since I’m not a 100% back yet, I’ll be calling an early night tonight. Alfred, because he was out drinking from 10AM to 6PM, is already sleeping. I think he did go to bed right away because he knew I was really upset that he was out that long. I mean, I can understand going out for drinks with friends, and that it was someone’s birthday, but eight hours? It’s just ridiculous.

Before I turn in though, let me just show you previews of wonderful kits I’ve downloaded today from the Project Sunshine Galleries of the Sunshine Studios. You have to register though before you can even see the previews and the links to the downloads. Register at the Forum first, and then head on to the Gallery and look for Project Sunshine. 

Aren’t they lovely? Go go go check them out!

Now I’ve got a question –  what exactly are Fig trees? I’ve heard of figs and even ran a search on them but I just can’t imagine what figs really are. You know, how they taste like and all. Are they eaten as is? Are they made into jam or maramalade? Do fig newtons actually come from figs? 

Sorry for this question that seemed to have cropped up from nowhere. I was just channel surfing and I caught fig trees being mentioned in one of the shows. Hehe. 🙂

Anyhoo… I saw Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed just now. What a cute movie! Proms aren’t as big here in the Philippines as it is in the US but I sure would love to get a second chance at my own prom. Haha!

Relatively better

I guess I’ma bit better today. At least I did not run a fever all morning – that’s always a good sign. The coughing has become worse though but I don’t always cough so I can almost ignore it for the most part.

I should probably be thankful that I didn’t have to endure the coughing, back pain, and headaches, at the same time that I suffered the runny nose, clogged nose, and fevers. But it sucks that I’m still sick. I’m a bit better and perhaps I can get back to work tomorrow – I should really.

Early this morning, we discovered the makeshift fence that keeps Zune in was open! It was a wonder that Zune didn’t go out. It’s a mystery how it got opened that way, it’s not like Zune could have pushed it that way. I peeked out last night too because Zune was playing with Sharpei right by that fence and it was in place as usual. This afternoon Esban said that he already saw it that way last night but he also doesn’t know how. Anyway, we should really just take it as a reminder to have someone make us a better fence.

Zune is really nothing like iPod, our previous dog. If it were iPod, he would have ran out straight to the street as he always did before. How many times did I or my brother have to chase him back? Sometimes he’d just go next door to my cousin’s – that can be scary because there’s lots of wood under their house and that seems to be where he wants to head. Then he’ll go to the common area at the front, run around, and then head out the main gate and onto the road. At one time he was almost hit by a car! Zune? He would probably just go sniff for Sharpei and hang out outside their door.

Is there pet insurance? You know, like having home owner insurance, or car insurance. Ah no, more like having a health card (HMO) like we do.  Wouldn’t that be wonderful? It would be expensive though, I think. We humans don’t really go to regular checkups unless we’re really sick. A dog needs to visit his vet every once in a while.

Speaking of health cards. Alfred was with me at the ER yesterday and he kept on asking how I was going to pay for it since I had very little cash on me. I assured him Medicard would cover it. Then they gave me some meds to take right there – he said, surely I’d have to pay for those in cash. So when it came to paying, I told him to come with me to Billing. True enough, all I had to do was sign. He would not have believed it if he wasn’t there. I’ve told him before to take advantage of his health card, he hasn’t used it all these years. It’s one benefit that I totally appreciate and he should too.

Anyway, it’s raining. Which means the road outside will be all muddy again (there’s been muck out there since it flooded on Sunday afternoon. Hello Barangay officials? Where’s the cleanup crew?) and Zune won’t be able to go out for a walk. Poor little doggie – cooped up at home like his momma bear 🙁

Out Sick :(

So Saturday’s sneezes has turned into a full-blown bout with Upper Respiratory Tract infection. My temperatures been going up and down since yesterday morning. Early this morning, I had my dad take me to the hospital for a quick checkup. They took my blood and the CBC tests came out clear – no need for antibiotics.

The doc kept on asking if I felt pain in my throat but I didn’t. Apparently he saw follicles or something there. They had me gargle on something – and now I’m supposed to do that every after meal. It should help prevent more coughing. But while I was still at the ER, I already notice the hoarseness of my voice! And now, I am coughing more than I did this morning 🙁

I have to take Sinecod once every eight hours, and Nafarin every six hours. I find that by the sixth hour, the fever starts coming back so I really must not forget to take the Nafarin.

So I missed training today and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to go back to work tomorrow. 

It sucks because I’ve stayed an extra day home but I can’t really do anything that I would love to do. I can’t sit up for too long before I start feeling woozy again.

One of the things I won’t be doing is participate in the Bloggers Unite event today. I just don’t have the energy to come up with a post. But do click on the badge on my sidebar to find out what it’s about and participate too.

And on that note, I’m heading back to bed… Ta ta!

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